Hi all,

I was wondering how long it took to hear something from Aetna PPO once everything was submitted. I am starting to get really anxious because I'm almost done with everything, and they will submit my things for approval once all completed, which will be in May. So, I hoped maybe I would have a surgery date in May sometime.

From the start of the entire process to approval took a little over 6 months. I did the 6 month supervised diet and the date of my last visit, my PCP printed off all of my records and I took them to the surgeon's office to be sent to Aetna that day. That was a Wednesday and I called back Friday to make sure everything was sent off. I got a letter in the mail saying I was approved 9 days later!

I had a similar experience as Tasha,though when I called back everything hadn't been sent. Once they got everything in, it was less than 2 weeks.

I have AETNA open access and was allowed to do the 3 month behavior modification program rather than the 6 month diet. However, it was still about 10 days from submission to approval! They are really great--they are one of the only insurance companies where the requirements can be found online. If you've met them, I think you are good to go!

Good luck--you're almost there.

Crystal

My insurance lady at my surgeons office said it will take a week or so. and said that Aetna is "really good" at approving quickly.

Good Luck! I am anxious for you. :thumbdown:

I do these approvals for a living for a local bariatric surgeon.

From the time of submission of all of your data the insurance company is allowed 30 days to respond. The type of insurance you have may or may not have anything to do with how long it takes to get the approval back. Whether or not they are short handed, whether or not they got enough info, the qualify of the info they got and many other factors play in to how long it takes.

If you are submitting in May you will likely have surgery in June. You will still need pre-op work up and your two week pre-surgery diet and of course the doctor's own surgery schedule will play a part as well in how soon you can get it done. Congratulations on coming so far!

I have Aetna and was told that the approval process is pretty quick once they receive the paperwork. I'm a little frustrated because I finished my 3 month supervised program and my paperwork hasn't been submitted yet. It's been a little over 3 weeks since my last appointment.

I've called the insurance company and contacted the Dr.'s office and nothing has happened yet. Bummer. I kind of thought once I'd finished the paperwork would be submitted to Aetna within a few days.

I hope your approval comes quickly for you! Good luck!