even before your preop diet.... was you trying to lose weight..did your doctor require you to lose wieght or did you not care. will it affect the decions of your insurance if you lost weight before the pre op diet?

I think most surgeons and insurance companies require that you try to lose weight before the preop. They want to see that you have tried all avenues in losing weight, and that you don't think this is just a quick fix.I was required to lose 15 pounds before they would do my surgery. I know for me I was desperately trying to get this weight off even before seeing a surgeon. Good luck to you.

When I went to the original seminar, one surgeon said that a person had to be careful about losing during the seven months it takes to qualify because the insurance will see that you have a steady losing pattern and will say, "she doesn't need the band, she's doing fine on her own".

His partner, which I used eventually, said that "I couldn't lose enough in the seven months to change my BMI enough that the insurance wouldn't pay for it". I didn't lose anything pre-op. So go figure!

I had my band placed on 8/11/09, am doing great. Good luck to you too.

even before your preop diet.... was you trying to lose weight..did your doctor require you to lose wieght or did you not care. will it affect the decions of your insurance if you lost weight before the pre op diet?

My surgeon required a 10% weight loss prior to surgery. I fell shy of that by 3 lbs. At one of my last pre-op visits I was advised that had I lost less then 5% I would have been required to do the extreme pre-op liquid diet that some folks have posted about here on LBT. With what I did lose, I only had to do liquids along w/ bowel prep for the two days immediately pre-op. From what I have read here, other doctors/ins. companies sometimes require a 6 month supervised diet. I would check with your doc and insurance company to see what their requirements might be.

My surgeon refuses to do surgery on people whose BMI is above 50 as there is a significantly increased risk of complications. If you can't lose the weight she wants, she apparently turns into the soup nazi. No surgery for you!

even before your preop diet.... was you trying to lose weight..did your doctor require you to lose wieght or did you not care. will it affect the decions of your insurance if you lost weight before the pre op diet?

My program only requires a 10lb weight loss. Mostly to shrink your liver for surgery.

I had to go on a 6 month program. I only lost 6lbs and I lost that the first month. They told me that as long as I do not gain a lot of weight my insurance company's will approve me.

I live in PA and have capital blue cross. I was approved right away no problems, but my dr's office makes sure all the paperwork and requirements are met before they even will contact your insurance.

The insurance profession in this country is messed up if it requires people to lose weight prior to WLS. If we could lose weight, we wouldn't need the surgery. Amazing. I had to pay for my surgery just like all of my medical needs. I can not afford health insurance. Do we need a reform of this system? I think so....

Yeah..it's messed up.

Don't lose the weight and you don't get approved. Lose too much weight and they say you don't need the surgery.

Because health insurance is nearly always linked to employment and because people change jobs (and therefore insurance carriers) every few years, health insurance companies don't want to pay for anything long-term.

Nice, right? Pisses me off, to be frank. (And I have excellent health insurance, didn't have to do the pre-op diet thing, and had under $1k out of pocket.)

The insurance profession in this country is messed up if it requires people to lose weight prior to WLS. If we could lose weight, we wouldn't need the surgery. Amazing.

My insurance company took my weight of my intitial meeting with my LB doc. I was encourage by my doc to lose weight on a six month medically supervised diet prior to surgery. I was actually able to lose of 50lbs. Being structured with your diet b/4 surgery (just my opinion) helps wrap your head around what you are in for after the surgery. I feel a person is better prepared.