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How long did it take for insurance approval?



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I went to my first surgical consultation last Friday, Feb 1st. As of this Thursday (less than a week after beginning the process) I will have completed all my insurance requirements. I'm curious to see how long it took for insurance approval for you all. I'm excited about keeping the bariatric ball rolling. :)

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Depends on your insurance company...mine was approved before I finished the requirements of my doc....this isn't usually the case but really depends on what insurance you have

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Depends what type of insurance you have but usually 2ish weeks. You can call your insurance and keep asking for updates. I did lol they dont no me i didnt care if i bugged them haha i mean its there job right? :) good luck

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It took me 6 months to go through Kaiser's program to get approved.

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Hi Khloe! Apparently it's different with all insurance companies... My paperwork was submitted on 1/25, and I haven't heard anything so I called BCBS Ohio today; they stated that they have 15 days to respond to precertifications (business days)... darn it! The waiting is the hardest part! I am, like you, ready to get the ball rolling... keeping in touch with this forum and knowing that I'm not alone is helping out tremendously! Stay in touch on here, and best of luck to you! :) Praying so hard for an early March date.... .

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I have blue cross blue shield and they said I had to do Nutrician, behavior, and monthly classes. Then when my program ppl thought I was ready then I was brought up and approved to move forward. I started in August 2012. I was approved by the team in December. Had my surgeons appt in January. Got my insurance papers sent for authorization, got my date February 25th. Got my insurance papers in the mail the other day saying they accepted and now I am just waiting for the big day. So all in all 6 months.

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1 week and I had bcbs of Texas :) good luck

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I have Anthem BCBS of California but live in Texas. All insurance required was a nutrition visit, psych eval, and pcp clearance. That'll be done this week and then my surgeons office sends all to the insurance company. I'm hoping for an early March date! Hopefully that isn't too optimistic.

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I went to my first surgical consultation last Friday' date=' Feb 1st. As of this Thursday (less than a week after beginning the process) I will have completed all my insurance requirements. I'm curious to see how long it took for insurance approval for you all. I'm excited about keeping the bariatric ball rolling. :)[/quote']

I was approved the day of submittal

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I finished everything sent paper work to insurance 1/23/13 got approved 1/25/13 now Surgery 2/6/13 at 12:00 pm it can happen fast my very first meeting the end of October 2013 hope your as lucky

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Surgeon will submit for insurance approval tomorrow. It has been a long 6 months, but I'm glad to have the opportunity to make sure I made the right decision. Now, on to the waiting game. I've been told 3-4 weeks, but my friend with the same insurance said her approval only took 1 week for the lapband. **fingers crossed**

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I started my journey in February of this year. Just last Thursday paperwork for pre-certification was finally sent to Anthem. On Monday, 6/29 I received a "form" letter stating they needed additional clinical information, basic stuff like what meds I'm on. I called the surgeons office who told me they had sent Anthem 56 pages, that included everything being asked for. I called Anthem, who told me "oh, we send that letter to everyone". Like it was a "we received your inquiry, we'll be in touch note", instead of a letter stating my precerticiation is pending. She then said all 56 pages had been received and were on "Nurse Mike's" desk for review, and would take up to 15 days from date of receipt (06/25). I just wonder, is this a stall tactic? Did anyone else receive one of these letters? Why would they send it before even looking at the documentation submitted by insurance. Just feeling frustrated....Candy

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I started my journey in February of this year. Just last Thursday paperwork for pre-certification was finally sent to Anthem. On Monday, 6/29 I received a "form" letter stating they needed additional clinical information, basic stuff like what meds I'm on. I called the surgeons office who told me they had sent Anthem 56 pages, that included everything being asked for. I called Anthem, who told me "oh, we send that letter to everyone". Like it was a "we received your inquiry, we'll be in touch note", instead of a letter stating my precerticiation is pending. She then said all 56 pages had been received and were on "Nurse Mike's" desk for review, and would take up to 15 days from date of receipt (06/25). I just wonder, is this a stall tactic? Did anyone else receive one of these letters? Why would they send it before even looking at the documentation submitted by insurance. Just feeling frustrated....Candy

The nurse at my Dr office told me insurance companies do this sometimes because they dont want to pay BUT ur Drs office will get the ok have faith

& keep pushing.

Edited by lovingmomof3

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    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
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      1. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • Alisa_S

      On day 4 of the 2 week liquid pre-op diet. Surgery scheduled for June 11th.
      Soooo I am coming to a realization
      of something and I'm not sure what to do about it. For years the only thing I've enjoyed is eating. We rarely do anything or go anywhere and if we do it always includes food. Family comes over? Big family dinner! Go camping? Food! Take a short ride or trip? Food! Holiday? Food! Go out of town for a Dr appointment? Food! When we go to a new town we don't look for any attractions, we look for restaurants we haven't been to. Heck, I look forward to getting off work because that means it's almost supper time. Now that I'm drinking these pre-op shakes for breakfast, lunch, and supper I have nothing to look forward to.  And once I have surgery on June 11th it'll be more of the same shakes. Even after pureed stage, soft food stage, and finally regular food stage, it's going to be a drastic change for the rest of my life. I'm giving up the one thing that really brings me joy. Eating. How do you cope with that? What do you do to fill that void? Wow. Now I'm sad.
      · 1 reply
      1. summerseeker

        Life as a big person had limited my life to what I knew I could manage to do each day. That was eat. I hadn't anything else to look forward to. So my eating choices were the best I could dream up. I planned the cooking in managable lots in my head and filled my day with and around it.

        Now I have a whole new big, bigger, biggest, best days ever. I am out there with those skinny people doing stuff i could never have dreamt of. Food is now an after thought. It doesn't consume my day. I still enjoy the good home cooked food but I eat smaller portions. I leave food on my plate when I am full. I can no longer hear my mother's voice saying eat it all up, ther are starving children in Africa who would want that!

        I still cook for family feasts, I love cooking. I still do holidays but I have changed from the All inclusive drinking and eating everything everyday kind to Self catering accommodation. This gives me the choice of cooking or eating out as I choose. I rarely drink anymore as I usually travel alone now and I feel I need to keep aware of my surroundings.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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