Hello everyone,

Care to share your experience with BCBS... I have Anthem BCBS PPO of Virginia... I am still waiting on my surgeons office to send in all the paperwork for approval.

Once your office sent it in, how long did it take for you to get approved or denied?

I am so anxious, just keeping busy at work... but it is hard not to worry about the approval process. I have started calling the surgeons office once a day, but so far they keep saying my file is in a different dept. I guess they are trying to get all the different appts I had together in one place. However, I dont know ... they just say they dont have my file and this person may have it etc...

So I am just calling once a day....So frustrating...

Good luck to everyone !

I checked and made sure that I had met all of the qualifications that were required by BCBS and then made sure the surgeons office had everything they needed as proof, they sent the letter in and I had the approval letter in less than a week. I was SHOCKED!

Good luck

went great for me i have bcbs michigan@@@@ all i needed was dr approvel saying it was medical ness and i was in

I am glad you posted what I was thinking...I just finished all my appts,labs,x-ray ect. I have my 2nd visit with the surgeon on Sept. 2nd. I was told it could take up to 30 days to find out if you've been approved. If you got your approval in a week how long after that did you have your surgery?

Hi everyone,

I not only have BCBS-GA, but i work for them. As long as you have all the necessary documents submitted it actually does not take that long.........After my suergon submitted the paperwork they told me the same thing regarding 30 days, but 30 days is the longest they can have it.

My approval came in one week and they actually told me before the doctor's office. I called the doctor's office and they told me that i could schedule mine as soon as the first opening in two weeks.......I chose 09/04 because it's my birthday and labor day weekend so that i won't have to take much time off from work.

I hope that helps !!!!

took me 21 days after approved was fasttttttttttt

I have BCBS of North Dakota and after all of my necessary appointments were finished it also took about 9 days to be approved and surgery within 2 weeks. Wow it went SO fast.

I have BCBS in New York.

I had made sure I was going to meet all their requirements before I began the process. After about 6 months of prep, seeing nutritionist, psychologist, getting sonograms done, getting documentation, and dropping 5% body weight, they denied me 2 days after my surgeon sent in the pre-approval request and paperwork.

They denied me for "indications of severe liver disease", which I don't have. I do have "fatty liver disease", which their policy specifically mentions as not being considered a disqualifying reason, so it should never have been denied in the first place.

They had 30 days to consider the appeal, and make a decision. They waited until the afternoon of the 30th day to overturn the denial. Lord was I pissed.

Sometimes I wonder if the people against health care reform have ever actually dealt with an insurance company.

i have bcbs il and it took all of about 3-4 days to get approval - i was shocked because this seems to be the hardest insurance to get approval from. i am scheduled for surgery on 09/08 - woot woot !:drool:

I'm a BCBS patient in PA and it really just took a day or so.

I have Federal employee BCBS. It took about 3 weeks after everything was sent.

I have Anthem BC/BS of CT. I am just on the cusp of not needing lap band. I weigh 200 and have a BMI of 34.8. I have alot of medical problems however so weight loss is a necessity to try and get rid of some of my health problems.

I had to get a letter from my primary physician, see the nutritionist and a psychologist before the surgeon sent in the papers.

I had my reply within 2 weeks. I really thought I would have to resubmit, so I was surprised.