So I had gastric sleeve surgery in 2017 and ever since I have had severe GERD. I just went through an upper GI endoscopy and it was found that I have a huge hiatal hernia, like half of my stomach! My surgeon says the only real way to get relief is the have a gastric bypass but my current insurance does not cover any bariatric surgery. Is there a way to get them to pay since the surgery isn’t for weight loss? I have BCBS of Alabama.

Does your surgeon's office have a patient navigator or insurance coordinator? They are pretty experienced in dealing with insurance companies, so that's probably your best bet.

There's really no reason for your insurance company to deny coverage here. While gastric bypass is obviously performed for weight loss, that's not the only reason. There are normal weight people that sometimes have it done for various issue like severe GERD and issues with gastric emptying.

My point is that even though we think of it as a bariatric procedure, in your case, you need it purely for medical reasons. They can't deny it on the basis that they don't cover bariatric surgery, since that's not why you need the surgery.