New to OH and California - Insurance Question

I moved back to California about a month ago and currently doing my insurance shopping. I was previously in Ohio and had United Health with my employer sponsored plan and had to go through the pre-authorization process but it was a plan exclusion by my employer. Now that I am back in California, my current employer also has UnitedHealth and also had weight loss surgery as a plan exclusion so I figured I would do my insurance shopping on my own. I am looking for the best insurance with the least hassle to cover RNY Gastric Bypass. I tried applying for Blue Cross last night through ehealthinsurance.com but they denied my application. I am 100lbs overweight however the only other comorbities that I suffer from are joint pains. 1.  Are there any tips to get myself approved? 2. Which insurance is recommended? I greatly appreciate your assistance. Thanks.

Good morning,

I can just tell you my experience.  I went through Health Net POS and did not have any problems.  In the past for other surgeries I have went through Health Net HMO (Physician Associates) and never had any problems.  The only reason this time I didn’t go through my HMO was because I wanted to go through a particular doctor.

 

Michele

 

I haven't been approved for surgery yet but I have HealthNet and my surgeon said that they are by far the easiest insurance to work with. 

Boy, Oh Boy - Been there, done that.   When my job ended, I applied for Individual Medical Insurance with Kaiser.  They turned me down for two reasons: 1)Overweight by about 100 pounds 2)High Blood Pressure *** In fact, this rejection is what me take my weight problem seriously & finally consider wls.  So, I continued my Healthnet thru Cobra at a cost of $631 per month & signed up for wls.  Fast forward 9 months ----   I re-applied to Kaiser recently & was yet again rejected.  Here are the reasons: 1)Slightly Overweight (although I have lost 80 pounds) 2) High Blood Pressure (they go back 5 years, and count it even if it's controlled & my meds are reduced) 3) Have stayed overnight in the hospital in the last 12 months (for wls) 4) Have seen a Doctor more than 3 times in the last year (due to wls) To me it seems like you just can't win for losing.  Although I had been enjoying this "early retirement", I am now going back to work so that I will have affordable coverage (also, Cobra ends after 36 months). I wish you luck.  Whatever you do, having wls & getting healthy is the most important thing in my opinion.

Hi. Thanks for responding to my question. Based on the two replies, I'm going to believe that Health Net has a better chance at approving my application for insurance and covering gastric bypass as well? Is that Healthnet PPO? I saw a few on ehealthinsurance like the HealthNet Value Choice 1500? Would that be a good choice? Would you happen to know what the costs of surgery if I were to pay out of pocket. Just an FYI. I was contacted by a few other companies after being denied and they offered me insurance for $199 a month and said that gastric bypass is covered up to $7000. No preauthorization required. Is that for real? Sorry for having SOOOOOOOOOO many questions and being so anxious but it's been a tiring affair as you may know. I just want to get it done. I keep on going on a diet and giving up and gaining more weight than I lost and I just want this to help me get over this yo yo thing.