Hi everyone! I am in the six month pre-op period and have a dr. Appointment this week. I have gained a couple of lbs since my last dr appointment and am curious if his happened to anyone else and what happened...does the six months start over? Do they give you a pass as long as you lose weight the remaining months of the initial six months? I’m so extremely disappointed in myself and have had a stressful month (not an excuse I know)...this is just stressing me out even more. Anyone have any advice? Thanks in advance! :)

I don't have an answer but a question of my own.

What is the six month waiting period ?

I am just scheduled for seminar but read all on local site but never saw anything about six month wait???

The insurance company I have requires a monitored 6 month period by your physician before they will perform the surgery. Not all insurance is the same so you may not have this requirement. :)

I wouldn't think that you're wait time would start over. This didn't happen to me though, so I'm not sure. I had to lose a certain amount in that 6 month period though. There wasn't a certain amount that I had to lose each appointment.

@Ann64Not everyone has to wait. My insurance required that I wait 6 months and be under a doctor's diet before they would pay for me to have the surgery done.

I have Aetna and I read somewhere here that they denied some who gained weight. My doctor did not say anything about loosing but the nurse was happy that I lost 1lb in my last vist but so far I've lost 5lbs. My insurance ask for 4 doctors visit and 3 nutritionist visit. I am keeping it on the safe side to at least loose a few lbs.

Check with your surgeon to be sure.

From what I understand, your 6 months wouldn't start over, you would just need to be under your starting eight by the time you submit for approval from your insurance. Your insurance could be different though.

I don't have an answer but a question of my own.

What is the six month waiting period ?

I am just scheduled for seminar but read all on local site but never saw anything about six month wait???

Ok thanks

I had this happen, and disappointedly, i actually gained 6 pounds over the entire 6 month period. My insurance company denied the approval of the surgery and said they would not approve if i did not lose any weight...they simply wanted to see some weight loss over the 6 months, however, gave me two options from there. First was that I could withdraw my surgery submission so i didn't have a denial on my record (I don't think they would consider a second request), or I could have 45 days to get below my initial starting weight. I had my insurance person at my dr office hold and I then was able to lose and get below my first of the six month weigh in by 4 pounds. We resubmitted and they approved. Moral to the story is to go to the first weigh in of the 6 month effort with extra weight in your pockets so that you don't have to lose that much. It appears that most doctors find NO validity in this 6-month weightloss plan and feel that it is merely another hurdle that the insurance companies put in the process.

Thank you so much! I have a couple more months to go so I think I will be good. I was not given a target weight though so wondering if I should be inquiring about that...overall I am down but this past month has been a nightmare.

I only had a 3 month diet and I actually gained weight 2 of the 3 months. At my last appointment I lost what I gained but it was still over my starting weight. My insurance still approved my surgery even with the weight gain.

On 03/05/2019 at 14:15, Poppyseed28 said:

I only had a 3 month diet and I actually gained weight 2 of the 3 months. At my last appointment I lost what I gained but it was still over my starting weight. My insurance still approved my surgery even with the weight gain.

Thanks! I just verified that my insurance doesn’t have a minimum loss over the 6 months (whew!) but I need to have lost some weight. I wish I only had to deal with this for 3 months that would have been awesome! :)

2 minutes ago, DanieHall said:

12 minutes ago, Poppyseed28 said:

I only had a 3 month diet and I actually gained weight 2 of the 3 months. At my last appointment I lost what I gained but it was still over my starting weight. My insurance still approved my surgery even with the weight gain.

Thanks! I just verified that my insurance doesn’t have a minimum loss over the 6 months (whew!) but I need to have lost some weight. I wish I only had to deal with this for 3 months that would have been awesome!

You can do it! These last few months will fly by.

On 3/4/2019 at 3:27 PM, SusieQ2019 said:

I have Aetna and I read somewhere here that they denied some who gained weight. My doctor did not say anything about loosing but the nurse was happy that I lost 1lb in my last vist but so far I've lost 5lbs. My insurance ask for 4 doctors visit and 3 nutritionist visit. I am keeping it on the safe side to at least loose a few lbs.

Check with your surgeon to be sure.

I have Aetna as well and I gained 4 ounces from the time I started until the last Dr visit before they submitted. I still got an approval. I think I had actually lost a little but I was wearing heavier clothes and shoes at the last appointment.

Hi DavidP,

How long did it take Aetna to approve you after your surgeon's submission.

Thank you!

Susie

My insurance actually requires seven consecutive monthly visits. My doctor required me to loose 10-12 pounds prior to surgery. This was in additional to his mandatory seminar and nutrition class. My tentative date is scheduled for April 15th, but the doctor gave me a specific diet to follow for at least two weeks prior to surgery.

We were told flat out if the required weight loss didn't happen, there would be no surgery.