It's not up to the ins co, it's up to your employer.  WLS is an additional premium and if your employer doesn't pay it, you won't have coverage and will essentially be self pay for surgery.

Anyone have the gastric sleeve procedure approved by AZ BCBS?  They approved me for the lap band, but now I'm thinking seriously about getting the gastric sleeve.  Thanks!

Thanks for your reply! It is wonderful to hear that a self funded organization provided coverage. That really gives me hope. The plan administrator is First Services Administrators but the medical organization managing the medical requirements is Community Health Partners. I contacted them regarding getting coverage for this procedure. Since there is such an emphasis on prevention with this new plan I was hoping that I could get approval since I can prove medical necessity. Also, with Community Health Partners in charge of the medical aspect of the plan I am hoping they would be more appreciative of the long term benefits (cost savings) of providing this surgery to someone who is already developing very costly ailments that will result in expensive claims for many years to come. Thanks again for posting. You have really given me hope!

The plan administrator has not changed but the district now has an agreement with a medical organization to handle the medical part of the plan. I really don't know if this improves my chances or not; the district did this to reduce claims in the long term by catching and treating medical problems early. Bariatric surgery would seem to be a great example of this but I won't know until I try. I am sure I will be turned down the first time but I will go through the appeals process now that a medical entity is involved in our insurance.