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The amount you should owe will be determined by the facility your surgery is at. You'll have to pay your deductible at the very least but some facilities let you pay half of that upfront and be billed the remainder. It really depends on the policy of that specific facility.

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Thank you SO MUCH for your help! I have united healthcare Mdipa, in Virginia. I'm a federal employee. Do I have to have 6 months consecutive or will 2, 3 month programs qualify me for a sleeve?

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Sarah 82, I have Excellus SimplyBlue Plus Silver 10 and I cannot get an answer as to whether or not I need to have a 6 month supervised diet and weight loss plan. Is this something that you are able to check into? I've called the insurance company twice and they've emailed me paperwork but it is like reading a foreign language. At my first visit to the bariatric center, I brought all the paper work that insurance had emailed me and the nurse looked at it and said I was fine since my BMI was over 40. Then the same nurse asked me last week if my insurance required a 6 month supervision period.

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If you need help understanding your benefits, I can give you advice from the hospital/facility side of things. Part of my job is to get prior authorizations and calculate how much patients will owe for certain services.

Sarah, If my employer excluded all Bariatric procedures in our coverage, what options do I have?

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If you need help understanding your benefits, I can give you advice from the hospital/facility side of things. Part of my job is to get prior authorizations and calculate how much patients will owe for certain services.

Sarah, If my employer excluded all Bariatric procedures in our coverage, what options do I have?

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You'll be considered a self pay patient. The only option you have is to find out how much the facility where the surgery will be will cost. They're who you'll have to pay upfront. Most facilities will give self pay patients a 50% discount off the total cost of the surgery. Then you'll probably be expected to pay half of that upfront. Where I had mine done, it would've been about $15k if I wouldn't have had insurance. That doesn't include any inpatient stay.

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Sarah 82, I have Excellus SimplyBlue Plus Silver 10 and I cannot get an answer as to whether or not I need to have a 6 month supervised diet and weight loss plan. Is this something that you are able to check into? I've called the insurance company twice and they've emailed me paperwork but it is like reading a foreign language. At my first visit to the bariatric center, I brought all the paper work that insurance had emailed me and the nurse looked at it and said I was fine since my BMI was over 40. Then the same nurse asked me last week if my insurance required a 6 month supervision period.

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@@Sarah 82...I have Cigna insurance and they confirm they received my paperwork on March 2nd but I'm still pending. Almost all the post I've read about Cigna say they were approved in about 2 days. Is the fact that I'm going on week 2 and still pending a bad sign? When I called, they said it was being reviewed by a nurse and would then be reviewed by the medical director.

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Sorry I didn't get a notification with your post. If you still need help, send your name, dob, and insurance id to my email. I'll check your benefits from work this week. Sseelbach@live.com

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@@Sarah 82...I have Cigna insurance and they confirm they received my paperwork on March 2nd but I'm still pending. Almost all the post I've read about Cigna say they were approved in about 2 days. Is the fact that I'm going on week 2 and still pending a bad sign? When I called, they said it was being reviewed by a nurse and would then be reviewed by the medical director.

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It sounds like it's just in medical review right now. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Also, policies vary so just because someone else with Cigna got theirs approved that soon doesn't mean yours would've been. Some insurances even have what's called a predetermine period and those can take up to 30 business days. If you'll send me an email with your full name, DOB, ID#, and the exact name of the insurance on your card I can look into it further this week at work. There may be something they're waiting on in order to process a decision. Sseelbach@live.com

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@@Sarah 82...I have Cigna insurance and they confirm they received my paperwork on March 2nd but I'm still pending. Almost all the post I've read about Cigna say they were approved in about 2 days. Is the fact that I'm going on week 2 and still pending a bad sign? When I called, they said it was being reviewed by a nurse and would then be reviewed by the medical director.

I also have cigna. The first time I submitted they came back with with a denial in less than two weeks. They added some more tests and I finished those and re submitted on March 1st. Still no word so I totally understand what your saying. All these others getting approval so fast and for us it's taking forever :(

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I'm new to this site and I have just browsing the comments to see if I can get answers to my questions. I currently only have Medicaid and I wanted to know is there any individual insurance that I can get personally that will cover this procedure?

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If your Medicaid will pay for it, that's going to be your best option because you won't have any cost share. Also, idk what state you're in but for Texas, it's very rare that you would qualify for Medicaid if you've got commercial insurance. That said, yes, there are several insurances that have bariatric coverage.

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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.
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • 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.

    • CaseyP1011

      Officially here for a long time, not just a good time💪
      · 0 replies
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    • KimBaxleyWilson

      Three months and four days ago... I was in Costa Rica having a life changing surgery! Yesterday we had a followup visit with Dr. Esmeral via video chat and this morning my middle number changed.  I'm down 47lbs and two pants sizes. I can wear a Large tshirt for the first time in like... 14 years! Woot!! Everything is going great. I have zero regrets. I went down to the riverwalk with a friend and walked 2 miles on Monday without even getting fatigued. And no more snoring or chugging pickle juice for crazy leg cramps! I need to go to the gym more... I'm making new shirts next week so that will motivate me. LOL But I'm also just not as TIRED all the time! I have a LONG way to go...but seeing the progress on the scales and in the mirror is a huge motivator!! Thank you all for cheering me on and supporting me!!
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
    • bellaamey

      https://alluniqueguide.com/java-burn-coffee-reviews/
      · 0 replies
      1. This update has no replies.
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