After what seemed like forever, I finally got my approval letter from Anthem. Now waiting to get a surgery date. I finished all required testing by 6/23/15, but apparently my hospital of choice was in prolonged contract negotiations for renewal with the insurance co.

Starting to get excited...

Congratulations. I hope everything else goes smoothly

@@bigbit

Congrats. Can you tell me the process? Did you have to have to follow a doctor supervised weight loss plan for a specific amount of time, or did you have to involve a primary care physician?

My daughter has an appointment today with a surgeon, but this is her first step since leaving Kaiser and her new insurance being Anthem BC.

TFH,

The 6 months supervised weight loss plan is a new requirement for Anthem BC as of 1/1/15. Fortunately for me, I had incidentally followed such a plan where my doctor prescribed me the weight loss drug Belviq and monitored my progress for 8 or 9 months. According to my surgeon's office, some case reviewers are very stringent on this new requirement, others are more lax.

I also had to take a wide variety of tests from chest x-rays and upper GI's to pulmonary and cardiac stress tests. Everyone of my doctors, both my GP and specialists had to sign a consent form. I was told some of this testing was because of my high BMI as well as my age (60).

Good luck and I hope your daughter gets approved quickly!

@@bigbit

Congrats. Can you tell me the process? Did you have to have to follow a doctor supervised weight loss plan for a specific amount of time, or did you have to involve a primary care physician?

My daughter has an appointment today with a surgeon, but this is her first step since leaving Kaiser and her new insurance being Anthem BC.

Thank you @bigbit. We will see what the surgeon suggests today as far as a primary care physician.

Congrats on your approval!

We've set a date for surgery: 11/3/15.