:help: I contacted Cigna today to see if they will cover the cost of the nutritionist for the 6 month required diet. They said that with the plan that I have they will cover a nutrionist for 3 visits within one year and they also noted the trend of Cigna denying to pay my primary doctor ( if I decide to do the diet with her) until the surgery is scheduled. How does this work? I will probably have to see my primary doctor for the diet but then when they send in the paperwork requesting payment Cigna will keep denying it for the next 6 months until I am scheduled for the surgery? What if I am never approved for the surgery? Will I then owe my doctor 6 months of back payments?

Can this really be true??? Please explain this to me.:help:

I have Cigna insurance and I saw my primary care doc for my supervised diet. Since I have so many other health issues related to my obesity (low back pain, borderline hypertension, depression, etc..) , he simply coded my other health related issues first and my obesity code last when he billed Cigna. It works out because then insurance covers your office visits while your doctor documents your weigt loss efforts on the chart.

Hope this helps.

Peace Out!

T~:hippie:

This helps a lot. How did he know to do that or is this something that I would need to tell my doctor? So basicly, do I need to start going for health/weight related issues and then include the diet plan so that they will also appear in my records?

This helps a lot. How did he know to do that or is this something that I would need to tell my doctor? So basicly, do I need to start going for health/weight related issues and then include the diet plan so that they will also appear in my records?

I had to ask my doctor to make sure when he wrote the diagnosises down on my chart, to make sure and write the obesity diagnosis last so that my insurance would pay for the visit. As long as there are other diagnosises BEFORE the obesity diagnosis, Cigna should pay. So in addition to your supervised diet, there should be other remarks in his notes pertaining to your obesity related ailments. Just make sure that he documents your weight, and his discussion of your diet (low calorie, low fat, whatever), and his discussion of your exercise every visit. Keep in mind that this 6 month diet will mean that you will actually see him 7 times as the first visit is considered the consult.

Peace Out!

T~:hippie:

I just saw the light today when I thought that I could probably use my primary doctor for the PhCD since I've been there in the past year for weight complaints already. My only problem is my BMI is 37 I have heard of docs pushing up the weight a bit and lowering your height an inch or two. Not sure if he's the type to do that but it's worth a shot. I'm only gaining here anyway no matter what I eat or how hard I exercise!

I worked so hard at the gym for so long to not get too heavy and this is my reward...I truly feel like I've finallly lost the battle.