BCBS Kansas City

Has anyone been approved for either RNY or LapBand by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City? Their medical policy seems super exclusionary compared to BCBS in other states. I was approved twice for a LapBand by BCBS in Wisconsin but my employer switched our plan to Kansas City and now it appears I cannot qualify any longer. Suggestions? Gene

You may want to go on the main forum to ask. even though they are not mainly from Kansas, they really seem to know their insurance. Most have been through it all already and maybe able to give you info. The KS forum oes not seem to be busy at all. Good luck to you!!!!!

It is not so much based on bc/bs, rather on what your EMPLOYER has ok'd. Talk to your HR person and ask them if WLS for morbidly obese is covered. I have bc/bs of KC, but my plan is administered in SC, and I am going to be covered. Pysc eval and nutrition eval are my main requirements. if your insurance website points you to www.myinsurancemanager.com/kc and you look on their "Medical Policies" Page, to Surgery you will find their policy, and it states if it is MEDICALLY necessary

BCBS of Kansas will not cover any weight loss procedure, diet program doctor supervised or not or medication for weight loss or maybe used for weight loss. This means if your doctor gave you a script for a head ache and the med can also be used for weight loss then they will not cover it. Recently there was a debate as to weather or not they would even cover Beyetta. It is a new drug for the treatment of diabetes but almost everyone who takes it loses weight. I guess the debate was on one side that Beyetta can't be used by someone who is not diabetic. BCBS said that is true but a lot of doctors are giving this drug to patients to include weight loss. Whole thing's a damn mess. If your employer now uses BCBS of Kansas then they're not going to budge. BCBS is a generic name used nation wide. However each company is independent and not tied to the others. Government sponsored BCBS for example might cover it. Is your insurance KC Kansas or KC Missouri? Might make a difference if your employer wanted it covered.

There's a guy on here named CHad Bennet, he too has BCBS of Kansas, and they refuse to cover the surgery for him. He has been writing letters to congress to get it changed. Maybe u should email him. I have his work email if you want it. Turns out me and him are old friends. Good Luck Trish

Just to clarify......... BCBS of Kansas is different than BCBS of Kansas City... All the "blues" are different companies but they try to work together to coordinate benefits. Insurance covers what your Employer has opted in to. What you need to find out is if YOUR COMPANY has an exclusion.

I have BCBS of Kansas City and I was approved and had my RYN surgery 12/12/06. I am actually Blue Care HMO and it paid 100 percent of everything, it would not however pay for the Lap Band as it is still in the investigational stages. My policy did not have any exclusions though...

I just got my approval from BCBS January 30, 2007. LapBand 43770 My card says BCBS of Kansas City, but all the plan benefits are administered in South Carolina (the actually building you reach when calling the number on my card) The doc faxed all documentation on Friday 01/26/2007, and they called her on Tuesday the 30th with the verbal. I can look on my member website and clearly see the approval status and even the authorization number! Now, I'm just waiting for the date