Hello everyone,

I am new to this and found that this site is really cool. I am looking to get the lap band hopefully within the next month or so. I am 5'2 218 pounds and my BMI is right at 40. I had consultation on 4/24. I met with the surgeon, nutritionist and psyc and the procedure was explained thoroughly. I have an upper endoscopy done on Friday 5/1 and once that is done they are going to schedule me for pre op. My question is, am i doing all of this premature? The surgeons have all of my insurance information but i have not been approved yet. I have BCBS PPO Federal. I am dealing with Weight Loss Centers in Beverly Hills. If anyone has had a similar situation please give me some insight. I am sooo ready to post my results like everyone else but afraid that everything is moving toooo fast. :biggrin:

Too good to be true....

I think it's normal for the process to go really quick but that wasn't the case for me. I had all the testing done but my insurance said that I had to do a 6 month diet first. by the time I was done with that I had to re-do all my testing. My insurance did finally approve me though.

Most docs will try to get insurance approved very quickly. The doctor's office may have had experience with your insurance company too and feel they will have the approval very soon. Just roll with it and hopefully it will all work out! Your doctor wants to get you through the approval process so just hang on!

ugh I wish mine was going that fast! I feel like I'm following a turtle with all the waiting - and I HAVE insurance approval heh. I can pretty safely say that they have already contacted your insurance company and made sure you have bariatric coverage. They probably know what the stipulations are as well for your specific coverage and have gained preauthorization to move forward. All of this is usually necessary for the insurance company to put their stamp of approval on the surgery itself.

Seems to me, from what I have read here, that there is a wide range of time frames for people. I had my intake appointment at the surgeon's office on March 13th. The clinical coordinator advised me that if everything goes smoothly that a reasonable expectation would be to have surgery sometime in late summer/early fall.

The process for me is to have all of my tests done. My only remaining tests are upper endoscopy, psych eval, and sleep study. After that, all of the providers have a meeting and go over my file and decide if I have met their criteria. If I have, THEN they submit me to the insurance company for their approval.

I also have BCBS. It is a Point of Service Plan. Their criteria, under my plan, is BMI of 40 or higher OR BMI of 35 WITH a life threatening co-morbidity. So, (and this sounds really bad) I am hoping that the sleep study finds that I have sleep apnea. Because as of right now, my only health issue is high cholesterol and I guess that is not considered a life threatening co-morbidity. Of course, I have a family history filled with heart disease and diabetes, but the insurance company does not seem to have any provision for taking that into account. :thumbup:

Wow, maybe I should stop complaining! Are any of you dealing with Kaiser? My sister has Kaiser and they have the same requirements. She has to take a 20 week course.

I just did not want to go through all of this and find out that there is a catch to this. I have asked all possible questions with the surgeon and insurance and everything is just going too smooth. After reading everybodys different journey i feel a little at ease now. Thanks everyone.

Yes, I'm dealing with Kaiser in So. Cal. and it is a very long process. It's taken me 2 mos just to get to this point which is the beginning of the 24 week classes, then the say it could be up to 6 months afterwards to be considered for surgery. :thumbup: It's very discouraging. You are lucky to go so fast.

This is so strange. I was just getting ready to write a similar post. Even though I've been thinking about getting a lap band for over a year, I've just recently signed-up for a seminar.

The doctor asked me to complete a questionnaire and contact my insurance company prior to the seminar. I called the insurance company (Federal BC/BS) today and found out that I am covered and do not have a requirement for the 6-month supervised diet.

While this is wonderful news, I thought I would have at least 6 months to get my head around this. I guess I still do, but after reading several posts about denied insurance and long waits, I should just count my blessings.

Jane

This is so strange. I was just getting ready to write a similar post. Even though I've been thinking about getting a lap band for over a year, I've just recently signed-up for a seminar.

The doctor asked me to complete a questionnaire and contact my insurance company prior to the seminar. I called the insurance company (Federal BC/BS) today and found out that I am covered and do not have a requirement for the 6-month supervised diet.

While this is wonderful news, I thought I would have at least 6 monthas mines to get my head around this. I guess I still do, but after reading several posts about denied insurance and long waits, I should just count my blessings.

Jane

I am glad to hear that someone is going through the same process pace as me. I had my EGD, EKG, Ultrasound and blood work done today. It was only a week ago today when i decided to look into the lap band and here it is a week later and I am almost done with the process. The only thing left is results to the insurance and a surgery date hopefully.