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Insurance Loss due to LapBand?



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I'm just at the stage of exploring this surgery. I'm going to a meeting tonight for a local doc who does the surgery and they want you to bring your insurance card.

This is my question. Has anyone LOST their insurance because an approval for the lapband was submitted? I would "assume" that if they (the insurance co) is asked for approval they now know your BMI is high, etc.

Is it like car insurance, where an insurance company can choose to drop you after an accident?

Hubby and I own a small business and there are just three of us on the policy. It was hard to GET insurance in the first place that we could afford...and I did lie about how much I weighed because I discovered if I told the truth no one would insure me. I was told my weight (5'2" - 275#) but me in the same category as a cancer or AIDS patient and I was repeatedly denied (I'm 53 yrs old by the way).

Just wondering if it is an issue with insurances...since they seem so focused on dropping people that "cost" them $ etc.

My only co-morbidity (at this point) is hypertension controlled with meds.

Thanks for any info or experience.

Nancy

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it may be an issue becuase you fudged your weight when applying. My insurance required a documented history of being overweight for 5 years (doctor records, etc). If this conflicts with what you told them when you started with them it may be some kind of "breech of contract" thing. I don't know for certain. I am just supposing. I hope they will cover it for you with no issues.

Shannon

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I would first call the insurance company to comfirm that they even cover the surgery. Some insurances will cover it but many will not. Secondly, if you sought insurance coverage on your own as opposed to going through a large employer chances are they probably won't cover this type of surgery anyway. No one really can answer your question better then the insurance company can. I also agree with Shannon that the problem will likely come from not being honest about your weight. Sending in papers asking them to pay for the surgery will likely throw up a red flag. Wishing you all the best!!!!!!!!!!

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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
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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.
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      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.

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        BTW, the liquid diet sucks, one more day and you are over the worst. You can do it.

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