How long until you were approved and got a surgery date?

I'm going to the first information session tonight. How long did it take until you were approved by your insurance and got your surgery date?

I started my journey on January 9th.  I spent Jan and Feb doing all that was required by the dr and insurance. The insurance was submitted for approval on Feb. 25th. I received my verbal approval March 7th and got my approval letter yesterday.  I am hoping to schedule my date today. All processes seem to be different but I hope yours is speedy and good luck on your journey!!

It took a little over a year from the first meeting with the program social worker until my surgery date. Insurance approval was a matter of a few days once it was submitted. Surgery was 6 weeks later but could have been sooner but for my schedule. BCBS is pretty quick to give an answer, other companies longer.

I was not accepted into the program right away. I was asked to complete 6 months of therapy and then told to reapply pending a good report from the therapist. I went to therapy kicking and screaming that i didn't need it...oh, yes i did!!!  Anyway, every program's requirements are different it would seem, so those could take longer than the insurance approval.

Ask questions at the session...no question is too simple or "dumb". Go to more than one session. Ask if they have BariBuddies or post-ops you can talk to. This is the rest of your life!

Good luck! This was the best decision of my life!

That's good to hear, as I have BCBS as well. I don't know what the program requires. I'll find that out tonight. I'm hoping to skip any required therapy since I've been in therapy for years, but I'm afraid they might want me to see a specialized therapist. My therapist told me last spring that he thought I'd be a good candidate.

I called my doctor's office a few minutes ago to let them know I want to talk about wls at my appointment next Friday. I asked if she had any experience with it and if she supports it. They said yes, so I'm relieved about that. She'll already know what kind of paperwork and records need to be done. I see my psychiatrist the same day. I don't know if he needs to do anything. I can't remember how he felt about it when I was considering it last year. It must have been okay if I don't remember.

Why weren't you accepted right away? Was your head not in it yet? I'm certain that this is what I want to do, I'm just scared, but I think that's to be expected.

Every surgeon's office and every insurance company is different. I had already attended an informational seminar back in November, but I scheduled my consult with my surgeon on 1/21 and my surgery date is 3/26. I was aggressive with my required testing and my work tolerated the days off for my testing. Those are obstacles most people forget about. If any of my testing facilities had not had openings then my surgery date would have been pushed out more. However, I was able to get all testing scheduled quickly enough that I may have even been able to do it a week or two sooner, but my surgeon was out of town. Hopefully he comes back relaxed and 100%. He doesn't strike me as the type that is going on vacation for 2 weeks to drink and run around on a ship in the middle of the ocean so I'm thinking he's going to be 100%. :-)

Every time I take even just 30 minutes off as part of this process I make sure to thank my boss for working with me on this. He's very understanding thank goodness. Don't forget to try and schedule things for late afternoons or as close to non-work hours as possible or if you have to do during work hours, try to do multiple tests on the same day or even at the same facility. I found out that I could have done my abdominal ultrasound, EKG, pulmonary clearance, chest x-rays, and blood work at the same place on the same day. That would have saved me a couple of co-pays and some time off of work. Oh and my insurance requires this crazy Psych testing with 2 visits, one for a consult and one for the test. I was impatient enough that I ended up getting a psychologist that was not covered under my insurance but was recommended by my surgeon's office. $1,200 out of pocket later and I got my approval quicker. Was it worth it? I think so. I was (key word was) convinced that if I gave myself too much time I will start to go back to the reasons I should be doing this myself without surgery. I didn't tell the psychologist or surgeon that thought. ;-)

Part of the time it takes is up to your control and the rest is surgeon, hospital, doctors, employer, test results, [how many] insurance requirements, and insurance approval. Some insurance companies require extended nutrition plans. Then if some test result comes back like you have an ulcer or something, then that has to be cleared up before hand.

So far I have been lucky and all my tests and blood work look a-okay so I should be good to go if I can keep myself healthy for the next 13 days. BEST OF LUCK TO YOU!!!

My employer is very good about medical things. I've talked with my boss and my department head to let them know I was considering it. My department head's mother died after lingering for years with diabetes. He's very supportive of getting healthy. I have enough time between annual leave and sick leave for the recovery time. I get off work at 3:30 and I'm allowed to make up time, so I'm not too worried about the appointments.

Thanks for listing the tests. I didn't know what kind they needed.

Hi!  I had to do 3 months of physician supervised diet and exercise.  My first appointment with my surgeon was on 9/25/12.  The office finally got everything submitted to the insurance on 1/31/13.  I was approved 2/8/13 and they initially wanted to schedule my surgery for 3/12/13.  I had to pu**** back because I couldn't take that week off work. So exactly 6 months from first visit to surgery date.  Good luck!

Amy

I have BCBS of Arizona. I have to do 8 weeks of a supervised diet, meet with a Nutrition, Physc eval, blood work and a sleep study. I have one more appointment left until my 8 weeks is done. I have to go to the Dr. once a week. I should be ready to submit to my insurance next week. I am very thankful my boss is behind me 100%.  

I was very lucky.  My first visit with surgeon was 11/1712 and my surgery was 1/17/13.  I never saw a nut and had a very short psych eval.  

At my surgeon's office they make sure you meet all their requirements plus your insurance requirements before they even contact the insurance company.  I went through their nutrition program, psych evaluation, and everything else before I even met the surgeon on 1/3/13.  At that appointment we scheduled my surgery for 1/21/13.  Somewhere during those two weeks they contacted my insurance company and gained approval.