Question:
BCBS - approved for 30 days only - is this standard?
I have not been scheduled for surgery but BCBS only approved the procedure thur Sept. 24th and my surgery is probably going to be in Oct???? — varedhead1 (posted on August 25, 2009)
August 25, 2009
Yes, I have BCBS and they said the same thing. I wanted to push my surgery
of until after my birthday but they only gave me 30 days from approval.
Needless to say this year's birthday stunk. LOL! Amazing how much your
world and social activities revolve around food. Good luck with your
surgery!
— Beda40
August 25, 2009
my BCBS said on the approval letter it was covered 3 months after surgery
date.
— carolyn1970
August 25, 2009
I also have BCBS and my approval letter did not list a deadline for which i
have to have to surgery. I guess it depends if you are a PPO, HMO EPP etc.
Good Luck!!
— sjh921
August 25, 2009
Your surgeon is aware of this approval period and will probably give you a
date within the approval period. You need to touch base with the bariatric
clinic you are using to be sure. They should be familiar with this as this
is typical of BCBS. Good luck.
— lesleigh07
August 25, 2009
You're lucky you have a 30 day window. My insurance gave specific date.
— Kathleen W.
August 25, 2009
Just another of the many insurance company "hoops" that they make
just jump through, do whatever you need to in order to have your surgery by
the date they have set or contact them and see if you can get some sort of
extension, this may be easier if your doctor's office contacts them and
says the surgeon can't perform the surgery by that date due to scheduling
conflicts. Usually insurance companies will bend to accomodate doctors.
— rkurquhart
August 25, 2009
Obviously all insurance companies are different, even BCBS has different
ways depending on which policy the patient falls under. I have BCBS and I
was approved for a single day, they day the surgeon asked for.
— Joseph Johnson
August 26, 2009
this is interesting as I am now fighting BCBS because they would not give
preapproval, but told me to go ahead and they would cover it afterwards,
their words, not mine. Now they are refusing to cover the VSG I had, saying
it is experimental, and not restrictive nor malabsorptive surgery and
therefore not covered under my 2008 policy. If they knew they were not
going to cover it, why did they tell me to go ahead and have it and they
would cover it afterwards? I don't understand this.
— cydthekid50
August 26, 2009
I have BCBSGA and my approval gave me 60 days from approval to have it
done. It is HMO.
— kasshe1437
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