New Here and Insurance Question

Hey guys, I'm new here to the board and will have my first consultaton with Dr. Teixeira from Saint Lukes Roosevelt Hospital on Thursday, Aug. 25th. My physical with him is on the 26th. I currently have United Healthcare and HIP as insurance and was wondering if anyone can give me insight on how long the approval process is with these insurances. Any insight will help.

Hi Patricia - My approval from UHC came through in about a week. Just so you know, when I received it I noted it says "this is a covered procedure", but later on states "payment is not guaranteed". I put it out on this board, and learned that everyone (at least of those *****sponded) said their letter was worded exactly the same way, and they were covered excluding their co-pays. My benefits manager is now in touch my firm's UHC rep to try to get an actual approval number, just in case. BTW - I have UHC Choice Plus, which is a POS, and I did check first to make sure my firm did not have an exclusion for WLS. Hope this helps. Mary Mc

Yes, this helps and thanks...I called UnitedHealthcare and they cover everything except my co-pays (up to $500) for the yr. When I called my other health insurance HIP (I was hoping that they would cover the differnce - $500) I was given no information and told that my primary care physician would have to contact them. That's great that you got your approval so quickly, how soon after were you able to schedule surgery? Sorry for all the questions, I've been thinking about his for around 2 years and finally have the nerve to try and pursue it and I'm so inpatient. I know I'm going to go through some test but I'm hoping to get these all done in one day (I know it sounds crazy) but the sooner the better. I went to the store and bought a size 10 pair of jean (I'm currently a 24/26) and can't wait to fit in them next Fall. I'm trying to get myself used to sipping water all day, this has been pretty easy, the hardest part right now is not drinking while I'm eating and not drinking anything 45 minutes before/after I eat. I figured if I start forcing myself to do these things now it should be easier when I get the surgery. Thanks for listening to be banter. Pat

Hi Pat - My date is 9/30, and I had to have the surgery date prior to submission to the insurance. I'm swamped at work, but if you want the full magilla, you can view my profile...it's all in there. I ended up with a delay due to testing positive for h. pylori. But once send to UHC, approval was very quick. Good luck...and I love banter! Mary Mc

I have HIP , My information was submitted to my insurance company on Wednesday and I got my answer today. I was approved ! =)

Congrats on your approval....Now that you have been approved how long do you have to wait for a surgery date?