BC/BS of Ill. Insurance Lap-Band surgery approval

Hi-I am totally new to this site and forum, but am trying to see if any of you have had experience with BC/BS insurance and approval for the Lap-Band. I have done the required 6 mo. of diet, exercise and monitoring by my Dr.,and will send his progress notes to the insurance, but  the info from them also mentions documentation of willingness to comply with preoperative and postoperative treatment plans. I have gone to the informational meetings that my surgeon held and also have info on the pre-and post diets, etc. but I know that my PCP doesn't have that type of thing documented in his notes. Would it suffice to send in some of the info from those meetings, i.e. hand-outs, etc. ? Has anyone gotten approval from BC/BS of Ilinois for the lapband , and what did you send in or what did you Dr. include in your application? How long did it take to get the approval, etc. Any thoughts you can share would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, MFR P.T.(-Cyndi)

Cyndi, all it takes is a phone call to BCBS and ask them to qualify what they are talking about and ask for it in writing. I do not think that they want hand outs because anyone can pick those up from a doctor's office without you even having done any of it. With BCBS they are really picky and you will really need to get EXACTLY what they want or they will turn you down flat. You might want to start a letter that can accompany the letter of medical necessity that your doctor will send into them explaining what has transpired in your life over your years of being MO. I am not sure how long it takes for the turn around for approval/denial now a days but when myself and my husband were approved 4+ years ago we got it in writting in 2 weeks. Christine

I have BCBS out of state, and I was approved in 7 days. But as Christine said, start by calling your bcbs and asking them exactly what you will need, and if they recconmend which hospital or doctor to use. Mine would not pay for any if I did not use Alexian Bros. Medical Centers.  Lisa