United Health Care question

I was told that United Health Care PPO will not approve the surgery without a 6 month weight loss history with your doctor. Is that true?

It all depends on your policy. Best bet is to ask someone you know who has the identical policy as yours (they work for the same company) or call UHC and ask. My particular UHC policy does require a documented 6-month doctor supervised diet as well as a documented 5+ year history of being obese. But, each policy may be different. Good luck on your journey to a healthier you!

The best thing is to call UHC. They will tell you. My policy has no precertification except I have to be with the company for over 1 year and I have to have it at Boca Raton Community Hospital. (I work there)

I have UHC Select POS and I have not heard anything like the requirements that you mentioned. All they have said is 100% with preapproval so I hope thats not one of the prerequisites.

I have the same as Elaine. What I had to do was show documentation of weight loss atempts in the past. Just filled out a form saying I tried Weigh****ches from this time to time. Used Slim-Fast from here to here. I also took Fen-Phen which was doctor documented. Your surgeon's office should be able to tell you exactly what your insurance company needs. They deal with all these companies on a daily basis. Good luck to you. Char

My UHC coverage is like Charlene's and Elaine's. I had no pre-op requirement for weight loss attempts. Although, I'm sure my well-documented diet history was part of the packet the surgeon's office sent. I was approved in less than a week. LuvitsunnyV@goal

I have UHC EPO and before WLS was told by a UHC costumer service rep. over the phone that I had a WLS exclusion on my policy. There was no way I was gonna pay 5 figures for it, so I had it done overseas. When I got back I found out the the costumer service rep. had "accidently" (??!!)misinformed me and that I probably would've been able to have had the surgery here, coverd by UHC... Needless to say how pissed I was! Sooo: BE CAREFUL AND DOUBLE CHECK ALL ANSWERS THEY GIVE YOU! Good Luck, Flavia

Deborah, I have UHC and they did not need the 6 month diet. They did want it documented what diets had been tried and a long history of obesity and co-morbidities and such. Call UHC and speak with the Customer Care department. They are extremely helpful. They usually cannot tell you exactly what is required, but they will do the best they can. I called them all the time trying to get info and they were also great at getting my case opened and reviewed. Just remember, the more documentation you have, the better.

I have UHC and the policy I had exluded WLS. I ended up being a self pay in mexico. Good luck, I honestly hope you have better luck than me. ttfn Sari