Dr. Geller Seminar on Aug. 14th.

HI. Well, I"ve put my first foot forward. I scheduled to go see doctor Geller on the 14th. They are sending me out information on the seminar. I have a question for you all though. What does my letter from my PCP need to say for the insurance company? Thanks everyone. Kathy

Hi, Kathy. Congratulations on starting your journey. It's exciting to have this option for getting our weight under control, isn't it? I have Humana insurance, and they required a 6-month, doctor-supervised diet. I had to go 7 times to my PCP over a 6-month period, let her weigh me, and then take her notes as documentation of my efforts. Humana required that at the end of the diet my BMI had to be 40.1 or higher and I couldn't weigh more than my starting weight. It didn't matter so much if I gained or lost during the 6 months as long as the ending figures were what they wanted. (I gained during a couple of months and lost during a couple.) At the end of the 6 months, my PCP wrote a letter telling what kinds of health problems I have that are aggravated by my weight and saying that I was a good candidate for surgery. I also got a letter from an orthopedist I see for knee and back pain. Dr. Gellar's office should have an insurance coordinator who will tell you exactly what you need to do to satisfy your insurer. You also can click on the Insurance link at the top of the page and find your particular insurer. Knowing what other people who have been approved have done might give you some ideas. If you want to see sample letters, you can find some here: http://obesityhelp.com/content/choice.html#letters Good luck! Kathy

Well u certainly have picked a great Dr! He's a sweetheart! All my letter said for my insurance co was that I had been morbidly obese for many years, unable to lose weight with a supervised diet and keep it off. My pcp is not one to mince words, he didn't write much. He wrote it on a script pad sheet of all things! Good luck and I know u will enjoy your seminar and visit with Dr Geller!

HI ladies, I have humana kppa. My husband called them today and asked if there was a set of guidelines that we needed to follow and they said no. Said that after I went to Dr. Geller that their office would send in the request and then it would go from there. That every case was different. I have a friend that worked for Humana and years ago she had bypass surgery and had to have her past weight loss attempts documented. I don't know how much time there was between the diet attempts and the requests for surgery. She didn't have to start over though. I don't know. I guess I just need to hang on and find out what they are going to want from me. I haven't been on a doctor supervised diet since 2000. I really hope that don't require that I go on one. I have a hiatel hernia. I've read that they fix them at the same time they are putting the lap bands on. I wonder if it would be on of the pushing points to ok the surgery. That they might as well while they are in there. It should be fixed. Too bad my friend doesn't still work at Humana.....