CIGNA people-How long did it take for approval/denial?

shauns11 · November 27, 2007

Hello everyone! I finally found out why I was denied by CIGNA. I was denied because I did not complete the 6 months nutritional part. I have to start that part all over. I did not know that it had to be 6 straight visits. I begin this part again, Dec. 10th. I am looking forward to getting it done. This time, I am using the Lapband doctor's nutritionist. I wanted to have the Lapband before the new year, but if all goes well, I will have it before my b-day.:clap2::whoo:

michiganer · November 28, 2007

Yeah, Cigna is very strict about the 6-month diet. It must be no less than 6 months and it has to be consecutive. It actually goes by quite fast.

TxArcher · November 30, 2007

Give or take a few days... I started my 6 mo. observation on may 9th. My last doc's visit was Nov 7th. two days shy of six months. By the way, I got my approval 2 days after submittal on the 9th of nov.

I did not miss a single appt with my doc and I jumped through ALL their red hoops!

Freebird · November 30, 2007

Cagstrom: Congratulations!!!! If I read your post correctly, you were banded today????

I also have Cigna, paperwork went to them on 11/12/07 and still no word. I am having a real hard time staying positive at this point.

Anyway, am very glad for you. I wish you the very best.

TxArcher · November 30, 2007

I got banded yesterday. My doc likes to keep people in for a 23 hour observation. I stayed overnight. I am on a full liquid diet already, but have not had the "guts" to try the full liquid yet. I am still on Jello and chicken broth.

By the way, I posted a couple pages back that Cigna actually has 15 business days to approve... NOT the 30 that they probably told you. BE the squeeky wheel! They will give in if you have fulfilled your part and your keep bugging them about it. Call Call Call... Keep a phone log of whom you spoke to, and a brief outline of what was said. You can use it as a tool later down the road if you need to use it against them. Hope this helps.

petergriffin · November 30, 2007

I got banded yesterday. My doc likes to keep people in for a 23 hour observation. I stayed overnight. I am on a full liquid diet already, but have not had the "guts" to try the full liquid yet. I am still on Jello and chicken broth.
By the way, I posted a couple pages back that Cigna actually has 15 business days to approve... NOT the 30 that they probably told you. BE the squeeky wheel! They will give in if you have fulfilled your part and your keep bugging them about it. Call Call Call... Keep a phone log of whom you spoke to, and a brief outline of what was said. You can use it as a tool later down the road if you need to use it against them. Hope this helps.

Good info. I had my paperwork submitted today and I am pretty confident I have fulfilled all their criteria. The only issues I might have is that I don't have any co-morbidities (my argument is that I'm trying to get this done to, among the standard reasons, to prevent future problems) and that I do not have 5 years of medical history (which I've been told should not be a problem). I was actually told Cigna has *60* days but I will bug them as frequently as I can and hope everything goes through expeditiously.

Freebird · November 30, 2007

APPROVED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CIGNA finally came in today with an approval, I finally got a hold of somebody at Cigna that could, and would, help find out where my paperwork was at. It took less than 15 minutes for the actual approval to be done. But, it took over 2 weeks for them to look at the paperwork.

TxArcher · December 1, 2007

YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Good for you. I am soo happy for you! Any idea of a time frame of when to get the band placed? I had mine done 3 days ago... I am feeling MUCH better today!

Your surgery will be here before you know it. Get ready for the ride of your life! You will love it!

heyhon63 · December 4, 2007

Congrat to You!

Freebird · December 4, 2007

Surgery date: 12/17/07 at 1:00 p.m., or there abouts. I am SOOOOOOOO EXCITED. I get to start the New Year with a new outlook on life. Thank you God.

TxArcher · December 4, 2007

Yeah! I am happy that Cigna came through for you! What a merry Christmas it will be for you, having a new life in front of you!

michiganer · December 5, 2007

I made it through surgery. My Mom and best friend were both there for me. Honestly, it was somewhat worse than I thought it would be. My stomach hurt really bad yesterday after the surgery and I still have some significant pain today. Thank God, I have not been nauseous at all! They did give me one of those Patches to put behind my ear so I think that saved me. I have been sleeping a lot and I slept pretty good last night considering what I went through. I am actually off to bed for another nap. I feel much better today than I did yesterday so I am hoping I will continue to feel better as the days go by. Now it is mostly when I stand up and my stomach hangs, it kind of pulls on everything. Also, when I try to take deep breaths, I feel pain. Anyway, just wanted everyone to know I did ok. I will write more when I am up to it. Trisha

TX_IT_Chick · December 8, 2007

Hi everyone!!

I've jumped through all of Cigna's hoops (6 month supervised diet, stress test, psych eval, blood work, nutritionist's visit) and have run up about $2k in the process getting all this done!

My paperwork was submitted on Nov 12th. Later than I thought it was submitted. I called Cigna and they said it would take about 15-30 days to get an approval. Well, next week will be 30 days!!

I also called my dr's office and asked if there was anything else I could to to push this process along. I was told that if I call and get past the 1st line rep, to a supervisor or nurse or someone, and politely raise a fuss, that approvals come in the next day or so. Guess what I'll be doing on Monday!

If anyone else has some insight to this process with Cigna, please let me know. I don't plan on having it until the beginning of next year anyway, but I want an approval NOW!! :glasses I have a plan B in case I get denied b/c I simply can't allow my life to continue in this manner (i.e. being overweight, I'm not going to hurt myself. ) I need a new start and I need it very soon.

Have a great day!

:Banane20:

Shandra

Freebird · December 8, 2007

I was approved on November 30th and surgery is on December 17. With Cigna, you NEVER get the same person to talk to, and you NEVER EVER get the same answer. The trick: Call, call, call, and call again: 1-800-244-6224. I did not have to look that number up either, I have it memorized. On November 30th, I was told that I had been denied, I had been approved, and it was still in review on three different phone calls all within one hours time. Now, tell me that all Cigna employees do their job????? I finally got a hold of a supervisor in Texas that was willing to, and did, help me. She was on the phone with a nurse while they approved me, which took less than 15 minutes and she called me right back. (Crying on the phone helped a little I think). Hey, whatever works with Cigna. Good luck and hang in there.

TX_IT_Chick · December 11, 2007

I got ahold of someone who said that she'd put a rush on my case. So we'll see how far it gets when I call tomorrow, and the day after that, etc. She put in my notes that I should expect an answer by Dec 21st. She also said that she saw that someone looked at my file on 12/6 but nothing after that. 12/12 is the end of the 30 day time limit.

Since we never get the same person every time we call, I'll be making yet another 30 min call to find out what is going on with my approval.

I feel better about getting an answer now, thanks to the replies on this thread.

Have a good evening!

Shandra