2 month diet for insurance co.

Ok, my insurance  company is asking me to go on a dr assisted diet for 2 months before they'll approve my surgery (my ins. co. is UHC).  My question is this...will they deny my surgery if I lose 5 lbs? 

It's such a joke.  My psychiatrist who's been seeing me for 5 years has notes on my wt related struggles and diets.  But because they don't include my weight and diet plan they'll only accept 4 months of it. 

I also saw a professional eating disorders counselor from 1999-2000 and she wrote a letter for me.

I'm afraid if I try to fight this they may pu**** back to 6 months.  I'm also afraid that if I do the 2 month diet and lose weight, they'll deny me.

Any thoughts or guidance?

Thanks!
Vickie

Vickie,  Are you afraid that 5 pounds weight loss will put you under the BMI to qualify for the surgery?  Or are you afraid they will deny you if you show that you can lose weight on your own?  The latter won't be the case at all.  A lot of people lose a large amount of weight in preparation for WLS.  It actually proves that you can commit and that is so important for post-op success.  Would love to hear from you exactly which is your concern!  Best wishes and luck to you!

Hi Vickie,

Shauna is right. Go for the weight loss visits. You don't have to lose while on the medically supervised weight loss attempts, but many do. I dropped my BMI from about 43 to 37 before I had my surgery... What's your BMI and do you have any comorbidities? If your BMI is over 35 with at least one comorbidty you'll be fine even if you lose some and drop your BMI. If you don't have comorbidities you'll be fine with a BMI 40 or over.

Barb

Thanks Shauna & Barb,

I was concerned they would think if I lost weight it was working and I don't need the surgery.  I definitely will not drop down to the 40 BMI level in 2 months - I'm at 45 or 46 now.

Ok, so the next question - I'm going to be doing this with my psychiatrist who's letting me choose what plan I want to use.  What would you recommend?  I'm wondering if low-carb might be the best bet since protein is a big thing, or maybe just counting calories.  I'm going to start walking my daughter to school every day on Monday, which is a lot of exercise for me. 

Thanks for the info.  I feel better about the next 2 months now!

Vickie

Hi Vickie!

I had to do a six month diet for insurance in prep.  And my doc wanted me to drop my bmi to make the surgery safer.  I actually lost about 40 lbs using a 1000-1200 calorie diet, making sure to have 60 g of protein per day, minimizing carbs, and getting in at least 60 oz water.  It got me in the right mindset for my eating program post op.  Hope this helps
Robin
Robin E. Weber, JD
[email protected]
877-797-6746
www.linkedin.com/in/robinweber

Thanks Robin, that's very helpful!  Counting protein also is a great idea, and getting used to drinking the water, too.

Thanks!
Vickie