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BMI and Insurance



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I have asked this same question and I have been told they go by your starting weight. How long do you have to go through with insurance?

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You wear very heavy clothes to that weigh in!


Sent from my iPad using the BariatricPal App

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I fell below 40 and was approved with no comorbities .

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My Dr doesn't submit your starting weight for approval buy what you weigh right before they are ready to submit for approval. Which sucks because I'm 40.1



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I was only at a BMI of 42 when I started the process in march 2016 and was told to try and lose weight that the weight submitted to my insurance company was my weight from my first visit not the weight right before surgery. So even if I lost 30 lbs and went below the 40 BMI mark I would still be approved by my insurance because they wouldn't be the wiser to the fact that I had lost weight to go below that.


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This is nerve-wracking, but I see I am not alone!.....I'm just over 40 also and my insurance is requiring 6-months doctor supervised dieting....and of course they have not said what weight they will go by. I don't have my first phone consult with the insurance's bariatric nurse for 3 weeks. Hopefully I can find someone on here that went through that with the insurance I have. Good luck to everyone!

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@snakrysheltie Instead of stressing, call your insurance company. Mine was great about answering questions during the process. I was approved 2 days after the materials were sent - in fact - I got notice of my approval from my insurance company before my surgeon's office. What matters is what your carrier does and not what anyone else's has done - and what they do on your policy. You could talk to others who have the same insurance co but have a different policy and the process could be completely different. Good luck!

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@Diana_in_Philly, that is great (and sane, lol) advice! I've noticed too with my carrier that it also depends on who I speak to on their helpfulness....which I guess goes for just about anywhere, tbh. The last person I spoke with basically gave verbatim what was already available in the policy documents already available online, but that doesn't mean the next person won't be helpful. I have spoken to great people there before, albeit on different topics.

Thank you!!!

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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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