BCBS Federal

[touchdown22 10]

Waiting on approval sucks!

[liveaboard15 1,289]

1 hour ago, touchdown22 said:

Waiting on approval sucks!

Nah... Finding out that bariatric surgery is specifically excluded is what sucks lol. rather buy me a new jetski with my $20K lol

[touchdown22 10]

Wow. Ok. That definitely sucks.

[Bari_KS 497]

Waiting on approval sucks!

When was your letter submitted to insurance? Do you have basic or standard option? My FEP Blue Basic approved me in about 5days. Call them tomorrow, federal BCBS is very efficient. Goid luck.

[touchdown22 10]

Submitted on 1/14. I have Basic. I’ll call tomorrow. This is good news.

[Bari_KS 497]

This is good news.


The real good news is the fact that Basic option pays $200 for a surgeon and $100 per night at the hospital. My VSG was considered outpatient (I stayed 23 hrs) so the total bill for surgery out of pocket was $300 only!

[Queen ApisM 426]

14 hours ago, seadoo2021 said:

Nah... Finding out that bariatric surgery is specifically excluded is what sucks lol. rather buy me a new jetski with my $20K lol

I feel your $20k pain!

[touchdown22 10]

Called BCBS. Approved!

[Bari_KS 497]

Great to know, I'm so happy for you!

[Mstravel302 1]

Called BCBS. Approved!

How long did it take for approval

Sent from my SM-N960U using BariatricPal mobile app

[Grider 92]

I did my lap band via Fepblue and took the normal 3 month plus about a month for all to be approved from them. That was in 2011. Now I’m under Medicare first n Fepblue as secondary. They said once meet the Medicare requirement, they follow the copays etc. The removal of the surgery was pretty quick. Hope you got through ok.

[kthorn1 16]

Reading about y’all’s experiences makes me hopefully! I have FEBBCBS basic and am almost done with the pre-op process (last appointment is June 6). I was worried I’d have to wait many weeks to get approval.

[lussa 21]

I have BCBS Basic as an employee and was just approved! Was submitted last Monday and got a call about two hours ago so it took a week. Exciting!

ETA: I got a call from the insurance coordinator at the hospital, haven’t actually heard from BCBS yet.

Edited May 2, 2022 by lussa
added info

[vanityreloaded21 0]

Hey everyone (

I know this post is old but I recently refuse FED BCBS and wanted to inquire about the approval process. Did anyone have to wait 6 months before surgery or is that requirement waived? Any input is greatly appreciated!

[kthorn1 16]

On 8/17/2022 at 3:43 PM, vanityreloaded21 said:

Hey everyone (

I know this post is old but I recently refuse FED BCBS and wanted to inquire about the approval process. Did anyone have to wait 6 months before surgery or is that requirement waived? Any input is greatly appreciated!

Hi - I just had VSG on July 21 and used FEP BCBS. It took me about 6 months to complete all the of insurance requirements but there was no written rule that you had to wait 6 months. The only specific timeframe requirement relates to nutritional counseling, which states you have to undergo nutritional counseling for atleast 3 months prior to surgery. You also have to have documentation of obesity for atleast a full year before surgery, but I had my PCP write a letter stating how long I've been classified above the obesity BMI and that sufficed for that requirement.