Question:
Are there any tips anyone can share to get quick approval?
I have contemplated this surgery for several years and now that I have decided I am worth it ... I just want to get into the surgery as quickly as possible. Is there anything I can do to obtain insurance approval quickly? I have not submitted yet, my PCP is totally behind me and has tremendous confidence in the surgeon he is recommending to me. They have had 15 successes in the last 5 years together. I just want to help the process to go swiftly if I can. — desi_den (posted on September 8, 2007)
September 8, 2007
Go to the surgeon and have him start the process with the insurance
company. They generally take 3 mos or more to get approval, howerev I was
approved right away and was schedualed for surgery within weeks of my
approval. You can contact you insurance company for pre-approval, that's
what I did to see if my policy covered it. It did, 100%. I was operated on
Aug 7th and it is a little over one moth and all the bills have been paid.
Do not be afraid to get pre-approval. It is just a matter of rather your
policy covers you or not. Perhaps it will only pay 80%....so what, there
are payment plans. I am down 20 pounds and have had NO problems. Good luck!
— bderuiter
September 8, 2007
I believe that it is a matter of what insurance you have. Mine requires
6-month PCP diet, a psychological evaluation and lots of paperwork. I
finally (since 5/25) have my 1st surgeon appointment on Monday. Best of
luck to you.
Deb
— dthomp
September 9, 2007
The process is what it is. I dont believe u can rush a group of people to
do their jobs. Everything for me has been a hurry up and wait process,
with everyone saying this step will take 2-3 weeks. I could just scream!
Patience is not my strong suit. I have been through the complete process
along with approval from my insurance company and am now waiting 2-3 weeks
for a surgery date, then im sure it will be more than another 2-3 weeks for
the surgery. Gonna have to learn to have patience.................I'm
sure their is a bright side to all of this........Oh yea the SURGERY!!!!
Your not alone. We all want to hurry up and be healt hy.
— ka11e
September 9, 2007
I had to have a psych eval, pumonolgy test, cardiac eval, appt with a
nutritionist, pcp letter of support, etc. Once this was done... the
bariatric doctor sent the letter of medical necessity to the insurance
company (BCBS of Georgia) and I was approved in 3 days. I am scheduled for
surgery 9/11/07! Alot will depend on you... if you can get all of your
appts out of the way and the reports sent back to your bariatric doctor...
it shouldn't take too long. It will depend on what insurance carrier you
have though!
— twinkytoes
September 9, 2007
It totally depends on what your insurance rules are.
Saying that, I would want to find a surgeon who has done a lot more than 15
in 5 yrs. The more experience a dr has, the better results you will have
and fewer complications.
My dr has been doing them for years and has never lost one. But 2 people
died waiting on the surgery.
My surgeon is awesome. I had almost no pain with an open rny.
— geneswife
September 10, 2007
Go to the Obesity Lawyers, the Linstrome family. They will take care of
filing the paperwork and filing it CORRECTLY. My surgeon's office wasn't
as aggressive as I would have liked, but the Linstrome family is. They
will also tell you if there are any programs to assist in paying for their
services. Mine was completely free.
— aer_rn
September 12, 2007
It's totally depends on what insurance company you have coverage under. I
have BCBS Federal and my doctor had approval in two weeks. GOOD LUCK !!!
— AngelaC.
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