Just wondering for those of you who had to do this for insurance, what did it consist of?

I had to go in to the Doc office once a month to weigh in and I had to keep food journals and exercise logs. My surgeon documented all the weigh ins and I kept the journals.

Insurance company originally rejected me for two reasons.

1. They had my birthdate wrong on all my records. It appeared I was under 18 when in fact I was 45 at the time. Easily correctable.

2. Not enough supporting documentation for the six month supervised diet. - Basically my Surgeon faxed them a large sample the food journals and exercise logs that I kept.

They rejected me two days after originally submitting for those two reasons above. They approved the very next day upon those items being addressed. Overall it took me a week to get approval. I had Cigna Carelink at the time. I now have BCBS of MA and they have no such requirements.

I had to do the once a month weigh in at PCP, but didn't have to keep journals.

Had to have 5yrs of proof of being overweight, also supplied by my PCP.

Psych eval & nut. classes.

I was approved one week after last pcp visit.

Good luck to you!

Good idea would be to contact your insurance company and ask them for the written policy on bariatric coverage. it is a good idea to have it for you records and you can read exactly what their criteria is. My insurance company emailed me a PDF version of it.

I got the written policy for mine yesterday. I have BCBS of Virginia and they don't have the 6 month requirement but there was some confustion b/c it seems some of BCBS does.

I just made appts for orientation with a surgeon and waiting on another to reply to me. I'm trying to gather my research and get this done asap. I was wondering if I have to prove ive been overweight for a while though b/c my policy doesn't say any other crietria they use to approve or deny you. It just has the info about bmi and co-morbidities. It seems too easy in a way.

I hope you have been researching for a bit and not rushing into it. It is a very big life adjustment. Even the most simple things such as eating a meal without drinking, eating very slow and chewing food really fine is not as easy as it sounds. Please research the hell out it before diving in head first.

My Father in law made a comment a few weeks ago that set me off. "I have no time for appointments and hoops to jump through. Just put the damn thing in and tighten it all the way up" Clueless....absolutely clueless. Apparently he thinks it's just that easy and also apparently does not think I had to work at it.

I am rushing! Right now I'm dealing with the ills of being very overweight. My body is sluggish all the time, my joints are in pain all the time and sometimes swell b/c my body is litterally telling me it can not take the weight anymore, im huffing and puffing, and something as simple as a 5-10 min walk from my car to my office desk is a physical challenge. All of my health problems are directly related to weight. I really need a change, but I need some help. However, I know I need to do the research that's why im here. I'm going to two different surgeon orientations so I can learn. I'm wondering really how much of discomfort does this lifestyle change bring and if its worth getting rid of the discomfort I have now.

I just had to weigh in with my surgeon once a month and update him on my eating and exercise habits. I like most, also had to do a lot of tests and consults so, this was just a small portion of what was required. I was approved within 2 weeks.

I hope you have been researching for a bit and not rushing into it. It is a very big life adjustment. Even the most simple things such as eating a meal without drinking, eating very slow and chewing food really fine is not as easy as it sounds. Please research the hell out it before diving in head first.

My Father in law made a comment a few weeks ago that set me off. "I have no time for appointments and hoops to jump through. Just put the damn thing in and tighten it all the way up" Clueless....absolutely clueless. Apparently he thinks it's just that easy and also apparently does not think I had to work at it.

He's going to learn the hard way.

I agree with Jim. The 6mths waiting was really good for me to prepare myself. All the classes and evaluation doesn't even begin to prepare you. 7mths on LBT.com and reading books is what really prepares me.

He's going to learn the hard way.

I agree with Jim. The 6mths waiting was really good for me to prepare myself. All the classes and evaluation doesn't even begin to prepare you. 7mths on LBT.com and reading books is what really prepares me.

Could you share some of the books that you found helpful?

I had to do the 6 month supervised diet. I have BCBS of AL. They were strict about having to go once a month without skipping any. I messed up on my 3rd month of weighing in and had to start over. Good thing I called my Dr office when I missed instead of waiting until the end of the six months to find out. They told me you have to weigh in with a Dr, not an RN, can be your regular doctor, gynecologist, etc. I chose to weigh in with my gyno, all I had to do was weigh in once a month and he signed my paper the bariatric Dr gave me, with "continue diet and exercise". I actually gained weight and they still approved me. I was told when I started the 6 month diet that I was pretty close to the BMI mark (41 with no comorbid conditions, yet) & I needed to stay about the same weight to get approved.

My insurance {and surgeon} required six months of weekly classes, two visits with a nutritionist, and a psych evaluation. During the six months you were expected to show progress towards losing 10% of your weight by implementing the diet changes you could expect to follow once you had your surgery. There is a standard two week preop diet, but since i lost 40 during the six months i was given the option to only do one week preop. I choose to do both weeks and lost an additional 16 lbs before my surgery.

When you are overweight, your liver becomes fatty and dense-the presurgical weight loss helps to remove those fatty deposits to allow your surgeon to have more room to manuver the tools. If your liver is to big and hard your surgeon may not proceed with surgery because of the risk that your liver can 'crack' because its too stiff.

Every surgeon its different and i know that the program that i did is more intense than most-but i came out prepared for everything. They cover everything during that six months and i know that it has preparef me for success-once i get my first fill, that is.

Always follow your surgeons orders. They tell you what they believe is best for you.