Hi Everyone! I have all of the needed paperwork sent to the Surgeons office and hopefully they will sumbit it this week. The coordinator is going to email me when she sends it out.

My Ins (BCBS GA) said they have 21 days to respond with an answer but I've read about so many people getting their answer within a week or less! Just wondering if this common? If not, how long was it until you got your approval/denial?

I'm soooo excited, nervous, scared and happy!

Hi Everyone! I have all of the needed paperwork sent to the Surgeons office and hopefully they will sumbit it this week. The coordinator is going to email me when she sends it out.

My Ins (BCBS GA) said they have 21 days to respond with an answer but I've read about so many people getting their answer within a week or less! Just wondering if this common? If not, how long was it until you got your approval/denial?

I'm soooo excited, nervous, scared and happy!

It took the full three weeks before I heard anything and I'm scheduled for surgery on 11/22.

Hope the waiting goes quickly for you!

I have Aetna. I initiated the call the day after the surgeons office submitted the papers. I was told to allow two - three weeks. I got my response in four days. It really depends on the work load; and with lay offs increasing, I would imagine the work load does too.

I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield as well and my paperwork was submitted 9/22 and I got my approval letter in the mail on 10/5 so I guess that's just shy of 2 weeks. I included a personal letter with the pre-approval request from my surgeon and it was approved the first try and I wll be having surgery either November 1st or 5th. I hope yours is approved as well. Good luck!

Got my approval in less than 24 hours!

My insurance (UnitedHC) gives themselves 15 days to answer once all paperwork is submitted. Unfortunately, my particular nurse (the one who decides) got my paperwork Tues. Oct. 5th, and now she will be out all next week. So I won't have a decision until the week of the 18th....it is really putting all my plans out of whack, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I had to wait 2-3 weeks for the wording "VGS" to be added to the list of WLS that my insurance covers. I work at the hospital where they are performed and my dr is the only one that does them. So I had to wait for the t's to be crossed and the i's dotted in the policy. After that I was approved in less that 24 hrs.

My insurance (UnitedHC) gives themselves 15 days to answer once all paperwork is submitted. Unfortunately, my particular nurse (the one who decides) got my paperwork Tues. Oct. 5th, and now she will be out all next week. So I won't have a decision until the week of the 18th....it is really putting all my plans out of whack, but there is absolutely nothing I can do about it.

I have UHC and was approved in 2 days. I had heard they were fast and I called UHC on my own and they gave me the greats news! I then called my surgeon's office. Good luck with your approval!

I don't mean to throw a wet blanket on your hopes and dreams, but I too have BC/BS. I'm in Ohio and like many other states BC/BS is still considering the Sleeve to be investigational/experimental. I recieved my expected denial letter just under 30 days from when my surgeon's office submitted the paperwork. It was not a surprize at all, just a big disappointment to read it in black and white.

My surgeon's insurance gal said she would call when he submitted a letter to appeal the denial. The deadline to submit the appeal letter was yesterday October 9th, and I've not heard anything. If his appeal letter results in another denial, then I'm told my surgeon will request a peer review meeting. This is when a provider meets in person with a doctor who is not involved with BC/BS to plead my case.

I am getting more and more depressed everyday. The surgeon's nurse asked me if I would consider RNY and I told her absolutely not. This week the surgeon's ins. gal called to ask, since my plan covers the Lapband, if I would consider that. I again told her "no, there are too many complications with it". She then told me that this could be a long drawn out process, since my plan does not cover the Sleeve. I feel so lied to, as she told me at my initial seminar that she was getting Sleeves approved by BC/BS easily. I had read on this site that it was not happening, that's why I asked her.

I feel my surgeon is an excellent doctor, but his office staff gets patients to switch with a covered surgery, instead of fighting for the Sleeve. He does ALOT of RNY's. My husband say's that I never take the easy way out, and he's right!!

It's just so depressing to see all these people getting approved and having their surgery, when I've been working since March of 2010 to get through this process! I am head strong and will perservere.

Good luck to you, don't give up!

I have UHC and was approved in 2 days. I had heard they were fast and I called UHC on my own and they gave me the greats news! I then called my surgeon's office. Good luck with your approval!

Oh wow, SO lucky!!! Did you also have a bariatric case manager? I've had the same case manager from the first time I called to ask about WLS. She has been nothing but awesome. My nurse I have only talked to once on the phone, and my nurse is the one who decides. I sooooooo wish my case manager could just approve it. lol.

You must have got lucky and a nurse who didn't have a lot on her desk. According to my case manager, my nurse is swamped! (Lucky me )