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How long does authorization take?



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I am currently waiting for appt 6 of 6 to satisfy insurance requirements. After that they said they will send out for insurance authorization. My question is how long did all of you wait for authorization and than for surgery after insurance requirements were met?

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My authorization was submitted on a February 2, 2015 and I was approved on February 6, 2015. I had my final meeting with surgeon on March 13, 2015 and scheduled my surgery for April 28, 2015. He had earlier appointments but I needed addtional time to clear up work obligations.

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My insurance was BCBS of Texas. I was approved in 5 days after my initial consult with the doctor. I finished all my pre-op tests and psych eval and was Sleeved and released all inside of 20 days.

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Im with BCBS IL. Approval took about 2 weeks.

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Mine took less than a week. BCBS

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First meeting with surgeon on 2/10 - 5 requirements given - completed requirements on 3/23 and insurance approved on 3/24 - surgery on 4/13.

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BCBS of Texas received mine on 3/30 spoke with them today they said it will take 2-3 weeks...really sucks...but I pray its sooner.

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My documentation was submitted on 03/12 and approved on 03/18. UHC was amazing, as were the staff at my surgeons office making sure all our ducks were in a row before submitting.

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Wow I have UHC and I have to wait 6 months... I'm depressed now!

I have UHC too! It did take 6 months for me as well. I had 6 appointments with my pcp, a nutritionist visit and a psych evaluation. I started the process in Oct of. 2014 and was approved at the end of March.

Hang in there, it will be worth it!

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Wow I have UHC and I have to wait 6 months... I'm depressed now!

Are you referring to the 6 month supervised diet? That is part UHC requirement for surgery but you don't request authorization until you've completed that time period and my surgeon required several classes, psych and nutrition eval, get a letter a medical necessity and clearance from my PCP. Stuff like that.

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Wow I have UHC and I have to wait 6 months... I'm depressed now!

I have UHC too! It did take 6 months for me as well. I had 6 appointments with my pcp, a nutritionist visit and a psych evaluation. I started the process in Oct of. 2014 and was approved at the end of March.

Hang in there, it will be worth it!

It TOTALLY will be! I'd say the hardest part was the 2 week waiting game between insurance approval and scheduling.

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Oh ok..... I've talked to my insurance company and they said it wouldn't be a problem getting approved due to my BMI but the 6 months is crazy! I want to get started and see this baby fat I had since birth go away! And be able to shop in normal places and when I window shop I want to say that would look good on me!

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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. LeighaTR

        I hope your surgery on Wednesday goes well. You will be able to do all sorts of new things as you find your new normal after surgery. I don't know this from experience yet, but I am seeing a lot of positive things from people who have had it done. Best of luck!

    • 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.

        I don't know at what point my life expanded, was it when I lost 100 pounds? Was it when I left my walking stick at home ? Was it when I said yes to an outing instead of finding an excuse to stay home ? i look back at my last five years and wonder how loosing weight has made such a difference. Be ready to amaze yourself.

        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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