So my surgery was scheduled for 7/7. All 3 times that either me or the weight loss center talked to the insurance we asked if they needed to be a Blue Distinction Center and were told NO! Got a call today on the day I was supposed to start my pre-op diet and was told that they do have to be a Blue Distinction Center. So frustrated because now I have wasted 6 months and will have to start over with a whole new program. They would cover my surgery out of network but that put me at paying $4500 out of pocket vs about $500. On top of that I have already paid the psychologist, did my visits with the Nutritionist, went to the support group meetings etc. It's caused me to use 21 hours of my vacation time when if the people who answer the phones in provider services were reading from the same policy as the Medical Management group at the insurance I would have gone with a different program to begin. With. I am so beyond frustrated. I feel like giving up altogether on having the surgery. My only hope is that the other program will take into consideration all that I have already done and been through and not make me start from scratch.

Wow that has got to be so frustrating! I hope the next program will allow you to use the test results that you have already gotten.

Good luck!

Wow! I started with the question of what hospitals I had to use and they told me the ones within 50 miles. I picked the hospital I wanted from that list (50 miles away) and then selected a doctor on my list. I would *hope* your specialist visits would go over to the new doctor you have to use. But, I did have 2 stressful calls trying to figure out the requirements for pre surgery dieting. They didn't ever really answer me--they pointed me to an online document under the providers part of the website but would answer no questions about it. Sigh. Anthem uneven customer service at it's worst. In my case, I am Anthem in California with CalPERS (our insurance book says you have to use their specific hospitals which is why I started with that question).

I just wish they would train the people answering the phone to actually know the correct answers before they waste 6 months of someones time or they should have to honor what they said on that recorded line.

I, too, have Anthem BCBS. The first 4 phone calls I made, they stated that it needed to be a Blue Distinction Center, BUT, since I live over 70 miles from the closest one, the doctor we chose locally was fine. And in network! So, I made my starting appointments, and got the ball rolling with my first visit to the surgeon today.

And find out from the rep I spoke with today that everything I've been told previously is not true. It must be a Blue Distinction Center. Too bad for those 70 miles. I legit cried on the phone with the rep.

I feel your pain on that. I started with my new program on June 29th. They are going to use as much as they can from the other place I was going. I won't have to have the psych eval redone and I may not have to go to their 3 monthly visits that they require for their program. So I was supposed to have surgery July 7th and now it's looking like early October for me. All in all I think the place I am now really does have a better program and I feel much more informed and prepared than I ever did with the other program. Trying my best to look at the bright side and not think about the fact that I could have had my surgery on July 7th and already be almost a month post op. Hang in there!