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Approval with low bmi and no comorbidities?



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Anyone get approved with a 35 bmi and no severe comobibtities?

I have anthem bcbs ohio, in my 4th month of supervised diet... (so nervous and praying I'm not waiting my time )

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Why don't you go to a free WL Seminar, sign up, and they will check with your insurance and do all the legwork.

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BCBS is a different company in each state but I can tell you in Texas you would not be approved. Anything under BMI 40 requires co-morbidities.

Why would they even let you start the supervised diet without looking into requirements for approval? My very first visit with my bariatric team I was given a check sheet listing exactly what BCBSTX needs for approval for WLS.

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I have BCBSOK 35 bmi with mild sleep apnea but they wouldn't have approved me without that one Comorbidity. I didn't know I had it until I did a sleep study. You should call your insurance & see what their stips are. It was worth it to me to get sleep study

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I have BCBS as my medical provider in CA. You have to have a comorbidity and a BMI of 35 or BMI 40 or above with no comorbidities.

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I have BCBSOK 35 bmi with mild sleep apnea but they wouldn't have approved me without that one Comorbidity. I didn't know I had it until I did a sleep study. You should call your insurance & see what their stips are. It was worth it to me to get sleep study

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I did a sleep study and was told I do not have sleep apnea :( . Only thing I can do now is get my cholesterol checked I guess and pray it's high enough ... I looked online for a listed of Anthems less common comorbidities that are possibly covered. Arthritis, back pain, pulling of blood in the lower extremities are a few... I have all 3 of those. Just not sure that will be approved.

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High blood pressure? That worked with my anthem plan. I was borderline...40 exactly so I researched in case they didn't go by first visit weight.

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I have BCBSOK 35 bmi with mild sleep apnea but they wouldn't have approved me without that one Comorbidity. I didn't know I had it until I did a sleep study. You should call your insurance & see what their stips are. It was worth it to me to get sleep study

Sent from my VS990 using the BariatricPal App

I did a sleep study and was told I do not have sleep apnea :( . Only thing I can do now is get my cholesterol checked I guess and pray it's high enough ... I looked online for a listed of Anthems less common comorbidities that are possibly covered. Arthritis, back pain, pulling of blood in the lower extremities are a few... I have all 3 of those. Just not sure that will be approved.

Sent from my SM-N920V using the BariatricPal App

I know it sounds crazy to wish high cholesterol but I know exactly how you feel. I was praying for sleep apnea before I was diagnosed. I know that they have to put a number on this for insurance purposes but it's so frustrating that we are trying to do something about this before it gets totally out of control and we have all the comorbidities. I wish you luck in your journey!!

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Other comorbidities that can be considered are fatty liver, gallbladder issues, repeated bronchitis, osteoartritis, and GERD.

I have suggested this to others (it worked for me)...

Write a letter describing your medical issues, how the weight effects your life, a synopsis of weight loss attempts, family history of diseases (specifically obesity related diseases).

Showing that weight effects your life negatively, with concrete examples, might push thru your approval

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Oh yay , good idea! Will you proof read it once I'm done ???? I did have gallbladder issues until I had it taken out 2 years ago.

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Sure. I can send you mine if you are struggling. I wrote the one for my husband as well, but we havent geard back from the ins.

If your pcp is open to wls, you can try to get them to write a recomendation too.

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Awesome thank you !! My email address is tabs1257@gmail.com

I really appreciate it.

I'm have spent so much money on different tests. My cholesterol levels are good and no sleep apnea. I'm just so worried because I don't have a severe comobibtity.

I have arthritis, degenerative disc disease ( had surgery to fuse my c5-c6-c7 in my neck ) severe Migraines due to that, dvt and varicose veins that requires vein stripping surgery....again ( Dr wrote in a recent statement that it is due to weight gain.) I had gallbladder surgery too.

My bmi is only 36

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I know , your exactly right. Thank you so much ! Have your been approved ?

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I was approved back in April but that surgeon was out of network w/ insurance. So I changed surgeons to find one that was in my insurance network. So went to a different surgeon in-network in May. it took them forever to submit and I found out in August that it was declined because he didn't do the surgery in a Blue Distinction Center so I went to a new surgeon a couple of weeks ago. She only made me do one appointment w/ her nutritionist since I had done everything else & been through 2 other programs. I went to the appointment this past Monday. They just submitted to insurance this week. I verified w/ the insurance company that they received everything from the Dr on 9/28. Now just waiting for their approval....again....LOL. I'm sure it will be approved but I'm still so nervous & will feel less anxious when I know it has been done for sure.

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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.
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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. 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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