Hey all!

I'm super new and I am going through the approval process with my surgeons office and I have a quick question about my insurance.

I have BCBS of Illinois, and i'm getting conficting information from them about whether the 6 month medically supervised diet is required before my surgery or not.

I call them and the people on the phone at BCBS tell me YES I have to do the 6 month diet before they will consider approving me but I talked to billing in my surgeons office and she tells me NO I need to get it in writting that its a requirement and accord to the latest policy information regarding bariatric surgery for BCBS of ILL it is NOT a requirement.

So my question is do I go by what the insurance customer service reps are telling me or by what the actual policy info is telling me? October will mark month 3 for me working with this and my surgeon's office wants to submit my surgery through the insurance then for approval and I don't want them to if the insurance company is just going to automatically deny me because I'm not at the full 6 months..Any and all info/advice welcome. Thank you!!

super benefits you have, I'm on month 5 and waiting for insurance. I have a surgery date of 12/16. I'm happy, nervous and just a mixed bag of emotions.

I have bcbs of IL & have no requirements at all. Just the surgeons requirements. Waiting for an approval then a date!! I think it varies by employers also.

I have BC/BS and had 6 months. To do. However they have so many divisions and policies it can vary

I have BCBS of South Carolina with the PPO plan. I have been told two different things. Once person from customer support told me that I had to complete a 6 month diet based plan with my family phyiscian. I called back two days later and another customer support person told me that I did not need to complete the plan. A co-worker of mine who has the same plan jumped through all the hoops she was told to complete, and was denied anyway. She was told they would not approve her even though it was medically nesscessary due to not completing the plan which she was never told about prior to starting the process. I serached my benefits package for this requirement, but could not find it in writing. So, I have no clue now. Just to be on the safe side, I found a family phyiscian (I just recently moved) and my first appointment is next Tuesday to start the plan. I hope it does not take long to get aproved, but I have heard horror stories.

I have bcbs of IL & have no requirements at all. Just the surgeons requirements. Waiting for an approval then a date!! I think it varies by employers also.

Same experience