Quick Question ....Please...

Hello Good people,
I had my first consult a couple of days ago. This is such a crazy process but I am so grateful that I have you all to talk to.
Here goes my question .... If your insurance asked for proof of non-surgical weightloss programs that you have been in prior to wanting weight loss surgery, what did you provide to them? My insurance company requires proof of prior weight loss attempts and I am not sure what to provide to them. Please help, your responses will be appreciated.


P.S
I have done weigh****chers and taken numerous diet pills including gym memberships.... Do I reach out to this companies for my record? Please advise. Thank you! 

 Yes, you need to get records from those companies and hopefully there are records at your PCP about weight issues and what he/she recommended you do and the outcome of that.

Sometimes a letter from you PCP documenting your attempts. If you have tried weight loss Rxs, who prescribed them and when? If you can get copies of the medical record reflecting this, this is your best bet. Usually a history taken by your PCP regarding which diet plans you have tried is sufficient. You usually do not need proof from Weigh****cher themselves.

The best approach is to get documentation from your medical chart, this is the best way to get the ins to cover. When you consult with the surgeon, there is also a form that you fill out listing all attempts at weight loss. The surgeons office will submit this to the insurance co as well.

Good luck!

I didn't need to provide documentation, which is a good thing because I didn't have any. My PCP, nut and psych letters all listed the info I gave them. I just estimated the dates as best as I could. Good luck!

Thanks y'all. That really helps me out. This journey is truly an incredible one with different branches to it. Now I know why people get so excited when they get their surgery date! 

All I was able to provide was a letter from my PCP showing my weights. They'd go down and down and down....and back up. And down and down and down...and back up.

Presto: prior weight loss attempts.

 My dr office had me fill out a form of all weight loss attempts. The info on this form was 

What program... for how long... how much did i lose... how much did i regain

So basically it was all my words and no one checked anything.

Hope this helps.

I just gave approximates as who saves receipts/documentation from the over-the-counter diet pills you took 15 years ago or the time you signed up for aerobic classes when you were 19...?  I just gave approximate dates for things i knew ive tried.  Only thing i could actually document was when i took phen-fen which those actual docs were stored away and unaccessible.  Thankfully just notes from my Dr. were sufficient.  Some ins. co. require more detailed into than others, not sure with yours.  Good Luck!

I provided my weight tracker records from the book provided by weigh****chers.  I also provided my tracking from my workouts when I worked with a personal trainer as well as credit card records of my gym membership.

It was a back and forth process with my insurance company unfortunately, but in the end I was finally approved.

Good Luck!!

Thank you for your response!