I just finished my last appointment needed for insurance approval yesterday. The insurance coordinator told me my file would be sent off to insurance for approval today. She said my insurance is pretty good at getting back to them in a timely manner, hoping that is the case. I have been so stressed about this for the last 2 months it will be such a relief to finally get a surgery date and get things moving.... Fingers crossed these last few steps go smoothly!!!!!

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I'm also with BCBS of MN, and mine was submitted on Sept 27th. I haven't heard anything yet. The waiting was killing me. I was shooting for surgery the first week of November, but that's not likely to happen now. GAH!

You never no u can still make it stay on top of your insurance and dr i had to because i needed to get approved by the end of the year to approve at 100% just stay positive and pray

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I have my last appointment today and my surgical coordinator will submit to insurance today for approval. I am tentatively scheduled for Nov 9 surgery

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Insurance questions!!! I am losing it. I live in Florida and have Florida Blue. So I want to do the VSG surgury. I google a place and call them and give them my insurance info. She calls me back and says my insurance doesnt cover Bariatric. Frustrating as I have like the best plan you can get through my job and always get comments about how good my insurance is from Dr.'s offices. So, I lost hope. Then I asked my HR about it and she emailed our contact with Florida Blue asking. The women tells her that she recommends that my provider call Florida Blue to get an exception, that she has seen in "rare instances" it get approved when sent for an exception. Which is foreign to me. I got to my primary to ask and she is 100% on board and very familiar with this process. I also go to the Florida Blue site and see there whole section for bariatrics and I know you have to qualify and jump through hoops to get approved. Any advised. I need help Im loosing it. I was gonna ditch my place with my job for health insurance and get my own if not. Why is this seeming to be far fetched!

Chylyn,

Did you receive your fast approval from BCBS Illinois?

Thanks,

Racshelle

I have bcbs Illinois and my paperwork was submitted October 3rd and I got approval today. So about a week for me! I am just wondering how long it will take to get the actual approval letter!

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Well I did not get a quick approval, however I did get a quick denial. This is so upsetting. I wish I hadn't called while I was still at work.

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@@ereese310 why did you get denied? Did they say anything? I'm sorry to hear that.

Well I did not get a quick approval, however I did get a quick denial. This is so upsetting. I wish I hadn't called while I was still at work. [emoji20]


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@@ereese310 Oh no!!! What happened??

This is the letter they were very quick to send me. When I started this process I was told the 6 month diet was not required, however, they denied me because I did not do the recommended six month diet??? I do t get it. I can appeal or do the 6 months and re submit.

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@@ereese310 I would appeal.

@@ereese310 - If you are going to appeal, I would also start on a 6-month medically-supervised program asap. It can't hurt to do so, and if it really is required, you will have gotten a head start on it (I think it can take 30 + days to process an appeal). I would be questioning why your surgeon's office gave you incorrect information about your insurance requirements. It also looks like they want you to address your GERD. Your surgeon's office should be able to guide you through all of this. They don't get paid unless they do [emoji6]

Edited October 12, 20169 yr by JMill 72

I don't even have gerd lol, that's a diagnosis from my pregnancy 2 years ago. I'm hoping all of the appts I've had with my dr, surgeon, and nutritionist would all be able to count as weigh ins that count toward the 6 months. I called and asked my insurance why they are telling me I need to do the 6 month diet when I've already been told by my insurance that I didn't have to. She said it's not a requirement, it's a recommendation. Insurance really is a joke. Why am I paying 500 a month so they can deny all my requests for care. All appts with the nutritionist are automatically denied payment because they cover the surgery, but will not cover the appts necessary to fulfill the requirements for surgery. Sooo very frustrating.....But at the end of the day, it's not anything every other person on the planet isn't dealing with. I'm going to call the Bariatric office tomorrow and see how they suggest I proceed with it all.

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Edited October 12, 20169 yr by ereese310

I'm also with BCBS of MN, and mine was submitted on Sept 27th. I haven't heard anything yet. The waiting was killing me. I was shooting for surgery the first week of November, but that's not likely to happen now. GAH!

Well...I called BCBS to see if that approval letter is coming soon. They claim they haven't even received the request! My doctors office verified it was sent on 9/27. So they're sending it again, which pushes me out another 3 weeks. I still have to have the appointment with the surgeon (after approval is received) so I can get on the surgery schedule. I guess it won't be the beginning of November.

I try...try...try and try some more, to remind myself that everything happens for a reason, even scheduling problems. Still hard not to get frustrated when you spend months in preparation with a goal in sight!!

Thmitchell

Thanks for your response. My file was submitted on 10/10. I had been calling

everyday to see if there is any new progress. Today I spoke with someone who

without directly saying so inferred that I should not call everyday. She also said that many requests were submitted lately. I am glad that you received

your approval yesterday. Hope I will receive my approval very soon.

Racshelle

Thmitchell

Thanks for your response. My file was submitted on 10/10. I had been calling

everyday to see if there is any new progress. Today I spoke with someone who

without directly saying so inferred that I should not call everyday. She also said that many requests were submitted lately. I am glad that you received

your approval yesterday. Hope I will receive my approval very soon.

Racshelle

Well I hope you get a quick approval. I called everyday just because i hate the waiting game. I called everyday and they were super nice about it. Also I asked them to email me the approval letter so I could get it over to the surgeons office which they did. If you want to call everyday I would still do it to give you a piece of mind. Keep us posted when you get approved!

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