Aetna and appeals

I have been denied and I am going to appeal. Has anybody appealed to Aetna and if so how long did it take and were you approved? I am scared and anxious. I need this so bad.

Hi sweetie,  i don't have aetna,  just wanted to offer my support.  I was denied by anthem blue cross and thankfully won my appeal.  But i'm wondering why you were denied,  aetna covers the sleeve to my knowledge,  I was denied because they said it was still considered experimental and that is the easiest one to appeal.   What was the reason you were denied,  that will have a lot to do with what happens now  :o)jeani

I have Aetna.  Why were you denied?

I have Aetna HMO and was denied. After 6 months the paperwork was submitted but Aetna counted every single day and you need 180 no less or they will deny you.So instead of 6 months visits I ended up doing 7 months and was approved. I just had my surgery 5/27. Good luck to you. Every thing will start happening before you know it.

 I have Aetna and was approved. But I had really 7 months of diet as well. Did they tell you why you were denied? Maybe you just need another month of the diet. Good luck!

AlleyCat: nice to see another Johnson patient here. I'm getting sleeved by him next month (I hope!)

You need to understand it isn't just the insurance company but your employer and what plan they chose. They may have chosen not to cover WLS in which case there is nothing you can do. Without knowing the reason why you were denied, you don't give us much to go on.

Hi, My name is April and I am posting under my friends login.  I work at Aetna and actually, I am in the Appeals Dept.  It can take up to 30-45 days for the appeal to be reviewed and a decision to be made. 

I am also on my way to have the sleeve done.  I havent had my information submitted to the insurance yet but I am anxiously waiting for it.  If you have any questions, I can definatly try to answer. 

I wish you the best of luck.

April

April,
Do you have any pointers on what I need to say in my appeals letter.

I was denied because Aetna said I wasn't over the bmi requirements for the full two years that they require. I just happened to have tried one of my many failed weightloss attempts in 09' and lost about 35 pounds and as usual the weight promtly came back plus some. Besides that time I have been obese since high school.