insurance question

 I do not have health insurance right now and can't find an insurance company that will cover the wls. My bmi is 35.2 and I need help. Any ideas?

i am under my hubby's insurance.  (highmark bc/bs).  Although the insurance company covers WLS, his company did not offer it as part of their benefits package. 

They were a self-pay company (they pay the costs directly).  So they could decide to cover it.  They didn't.  Made me do the whole insurance appeals process. 

Went thru to the 3rd level where the company had to pay for an outside party.  THey overturned it and because of all of my documentation, letters, etc. It was documented that it was medically necessary and appropriate (fromt he beginning) but that is a clause in many benefit plans.  So read them all carefully.  

 It was covered in full. 

Took a year. Almost to the day. Lots of research.  many letter, doctor visits, and many tears. 

Glad i persevered. 

Good luck to you.

Catherine

Hey I am not sure what your situation is but I was in the same position.  I didn't have health insurance and wasn't working. I was in medical school so getting a job wasn't an option. I came on the boards and found out medicaid covered WLS so I applied for it and that took about 2-3months and once I had it I started making appointments.  Hope this helps!

 I live in VA and I don't think we can get Medicaid unless you are pregnant here. I was on Medicaid whenever I was pregnant with my now 11 month old twins but they take it away after your 6 week appt. after delivery. How did you get Medicaid?

I am from NY and I know that here women also automatically qualify for medicaid when they are pregnant also.  I went online to the NY medicaid website and looked up the requirements. For me because I had no income I qualified. You just have to fill out a form and send it in. Generally takes 2-3 weeks to get approved and then I had to choose a health plan which took another month to become effective. Best of luck!!

Once you have been offered a job that offers medical ins, you need inquire if your employer has paid for a package that includes WLS benefits.   In other words, we could both have Blue Cross/Blue Sheild insurance, but depending on the policy your employer has paid for, you might have WLS covered and I might not or vice versa.  Call the insurance company and have them send you a copy of the policy with regard to weight loss surgery.  I had a huge questionaire my surgeon had me ask the ins. co. as part of qualifying and I had to write the answers down verbatum.   The last thing you want to do is have the surgery thinking you are good to go and then find out you didn't do all that was required and get stuck with a huge bill.  It is not your surgeon or his staff's responsibility to make sure you are covered and meet the requirements, it is yours.  There are hundreds or more, plans for employers to choose from depending on the company they buy their ins. coverage from.

If you then find you have a plan that covers WLS,  you need to be concerned with that particular plan's qualifications for surgery.  For instance, my plan let you have surgery right away, if your BMI was at a certain level.  Because my BMI was at the low end, as yours is, I had to do 6 months of consecutive visits with my doctor and have documented failed attempts by my doctor that I had failed at weight loss in order to be approved.  There was a  TON of paperwork to fill out, but it's all worth it in the end.

I wish you luck in your search for a job/ins plan that offers you those benefits.

Paula