CIGNA HMO

I would like to hear from anyone that has been approved or disapproved that has CIGNA HMO--I am having a hard time getting my diet doctors notes from awhile back and this is the last item i need to provide to my surgeon so that he can see if i will be approved--i wanted to know if anyone out there has received approval by CIGNA HMO without the 6 month supervised diet??? please let me know - thanks

Everyone I know who's had Cigna HMO or PPO, including me, has had to have the 6 month diet history. I started my journey to get approved in October of 2003 and was finally approved in September of 2004 and had my surgery in January of 2005. I believe it was well worth the effort and the wait! Good luck on your journey. Rhonda

From what little I know Cigna is a stickler for that 6mo supervised diet. But if you have notes that are a while back and nothing current and not consecutive - you should start (unfortunately) from the beginning and start doing it consistently. I know it may be a pain but if you're going back to a year or more and it's not consecutive - they won't look at it. I say this cause Im helping a friend and she had some notes but it was like 2 years ago and it was like 2 months worth - and they of course didn't tell her it was enough and by now it's old stuff..so she's starting all over. As Rhonda said - if you need to go back to the beginning start fresh and be a bugger to them to make sure they document everything that you're trying every month. In the end it will be worth it!! Good luck to you!!

I had Aetna and from what I've read on these boards, any insurance company that says they want 6 months of office notes to document a physician-supervised diet isn't kidding. That's precisely what they want and trying to cut corners to get around it is only going to delay you further. I know this isn't what you want to hear, but you might as well get going and do what they require starting now. You can do it. In the end, 6 months isn't going to make that much difference!! It's so worth waiting for! Jan

We have Cigna PPO and it's the same thing- the WL coordinator at the surgeon's office says she has dealt with probably EVERY Insurance company out there- she knows exactly what they require for approval, and I believe her. Of course I got all bummed out too, 6 months?!?!? Seems like forever! But I am optimistic and I've decided to fully commit myself during this time to strict diet & exercise. Have the appointment with my PCP next week and I will do whatever they say, and hopefully drop some weight, get some energy and maybe lower my risk of death on the operating table...

Lori, push hard, Cigna is not covering WLS after January 1, 2006. I hope you can get this worked out. Carol

Cigna not covering WLS after 1/1/06? Carol-please tell me where you got this information. I can't understand why they didn't tell me that when I called this afternoon??!?