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How long for insurance approval?



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Question......

How long did it take for insurance to approve gastric bypass?

They sent in my "request" TWO weeks ago and still nothing! At first the nurse told me one to two weeks, now that the two weeks are up she said it can take up to a month! I am so confused and getting depressed - I have done EVERYTHING all tests and requirements asked for. I really want to get things moving.

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My surgeon's office told me a month, but it only took about a week. Of course, I have no patience, so I called the insurance company everyday. I have United Healthcare for insurance.

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Thanks for the reply. I have been waiting and getting conflicting wait times. It's so frustrating.

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Thanks for the reply. I have been waiting and getting conflicting wait times. It's so frustrating.

I called my insurance and they told me their approval timeframes. Every company is different. Call your influence company.

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Thank you...

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Mine took 4 days from date of submission. I have BCBS

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I started calling the insurance every day and they told me what stage it was in. They don't mind -- they're sitting there answering phones anyway! ;)

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You just never know with insurance! It took mine over a month to approve it. Everyone, including my doctors office said it would be less than a week. I was beginning to panic! So don't stress if it takes awhile, every insurance is different. Good luck! I hope you hear something soon!

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I FINALLY received the call...YAY. I took about three weeks but I got it!

I am scheduled for surgery July 21st. .. Soooo very excited - I am actually looking forward to July 7th when I start my two week pre-op diet....I will be just that much closer!!

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When I called my insurance company to find out if they covered it, they told me yes and that approval usually took 2 weeks.

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Do you think my insurance will cover I have BlueCross BlueShield Anthem.I called them &they said they only cover if its a life Or death situation. Someone please answer back.

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It depends if they consider comorbidities life or death. That could be high blood pressure, diabetes, sleep apnea, high BMI OR a host of other things.

You should check with your insurance company what THEY consider "life or death". I think insurances now realize that being obese directly correlates to

other debilitating diseases. It is easier to "control" the obese aspect rather than the host of illnesses that comes with it.

Good luck.

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My surgeon's office told me a month, but it only took about a week. Of course, I have no patience, so I called the insurance company everyday. I have United Healthcare for insurance.

U have united health?? Well so do I and I would love to know what were the requirements? Did they require 6 or 3 months of weightloss monitoring? I am so excited and ready to being this journey! My insurance wont be effective for a few more days. Any information, feedback or words of wisdom would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!

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      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

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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.
      · 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.

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        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💪
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