My paperwork was submitted to Cigna a couple of days ago. I was informed by surgeon's office since it's a elective surgery it had to go through Cigna's " voluntary predertermination department," and it would take up to 30 days to review! Anyone out there with Cigna experience this? Does it really take 30 days????

I have Cigna and it was way faster than that. They told me it's 5-7 days after submittal. Is your BMI 35 or greater than 40? Maybe that has something to do with it?

I have CIgna. Paperwork was submitted on a Tuesday morning and I was approved the next day by 11am. I was told 1-2 weeks wait. Might help to call Cigna and ask them, see if you can get it pushed through a bit. I called before the paperwork was submitted and asked what the process was. The rep just told me that someone has to look it over, make sure all the paperwork is there, and that was it. If anything was questionable, missing, etc...then it takes longer.

Bmi is 42. I'm down 6 lbs since starting down this path 6 months ago, and I was dx with sleep apnea

I'm a bmi of 40...don't think your bmi should have anything to do with it being longer. Many people have sleep apnea too. I hope it doesn't take long (it shouldn't); but for your peace of mind, call Cigna and talk with them.

I just read your description again and honestly, I think your surgeons office is just buying themselves extra time. Mine did this also. They told me with Cigna it was about a month wait, I called Cigna and they said no, more like 5 days... I would call Cigna and check the status of your pre-authorization. I must have called them 6 times in a week. lol.

I called Cigna to verify, they did confirm it can take up to 30 days. I called Cigna today and they said it's still being reviewed. Cigna said they were going to put in a request for precert to escalate my case. Yesterday when i called they said there was nothing they could do and i would have to just wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I called Cigna to verify, they did confirm it can take up to 30 days. I called Cigna today and they said it's still being reviewed. Cigna said they were going to put in a request for precert to escalate my case. Yesterday when i called they said there was nothing they could do and i would have to just wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I have Cigna as well, called them and was told I would have to wait up to 30 days as well. However my paperwork was submitted on 4/27/17 and I was approved on 5/3/17. I that think as long as your plan covers the procedure and the ducks were in a row when your surgeon's office submitted, your decision should be quick.

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9 hours ago, futomaki said:

I called Cigna to verify, they did confirm it can take up to 30 days. I called Cigna today and they said it's still being reviewed. Cigna said they were going to put in a request for precert to escalate my case. Yesterday when i called they said there was nothing they could do and i would have to just wait. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Ugh, that's so frustrating. I'm sorry. I hope they move quickly for you.

I wrapped up my 3-month pre-op program last Friday, and got the call from my coordinator that Cigna approved my paperwork yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that things moved that quickly. Hopefully you get good news soon!

2 hours ago, BT816 said:

I wrapped up my 3-month pre-op program last Friday, and got the call from my coordinator that Cigna approved my paperwork yesterday. I was pleasantly surprised that things moved that quickly. Hopefully you get good news soon!

I'm glad to hear this, as I'm in the midst of my own 3-month pre-op program (required by Cigna), and I've been nervous about how long the application could take to be approved, once submitted at the beginning of July. I'm really hoping I can have surgery and be on the road to recovery before my son begins school in late August, because that's such a busy time of year, and I need to be sharp and mobile! My surgeon's coordinator says they can schedule about 2-3 weeks out once approval comes in. I'll need to go on the liquid diet to shrink my liver at that time. Anyway, thanks for the information! It gives me hope.

Cigna was really fast for me. It might have to do with your individual plan. If you have bariatric surgery coverage, it shouldn't take 30 days and it's not "voluntary" if your BMI is over 40. Very odd. Sorry for your frustrations. I hope it gets approved a lot quicker than 30 days.