insurance

Hi I am new to all this, my sister-in-law did the lap band surgery with Dr Valin last july. I am currently persuing the same surgery with the same Dr. I have done all the requirements and now waiting for insurance approval. My question is does anyone have bluecross blue sheild empire blue? If so how long did it take for approval . .any advise is great.

Hi there! I had the lap-band surgery on July 5th and my insurance company is Anthem BC/BS. I don't know if Anthem's policies are similiar to Empire blue's policies, but I can tell you that I was denied the first time but approved once my dr. sent an appeal letter. Hope this helps. Best of luck to you!

I have Empire. They are a bit of sticklers about the whole 6-month diet thing, but I spoke to a nurse supervisor at the insurance company and she said to have my PCP write a letter stating that I have "failed to lose weight significantly". My PCP happened to be on vacation, so I took it upon myself to write a heartfelt 2-page letter and was approved within 5 days. If you need me to get you a copy of my letter, let me know. Good luck and fight the good fight!!!

wow that would be great if you have a copy i would be able to see the points that got you approved .when did you have your surgery ? did you have lap band or gastric? how are you doing?