United Healthcare: Final Appeal Denied

Well I have just learned today that my final appeal has been denied with United Healthcare. My advice for any one that has this insurance provider, with the treatment of obesity not covered exclusion in their policy, to not waste there time with getting them to cover it. No matter what you say, do, or show them, they have the legal right to deny you coverage of the surgery. I guess I will have to be fat the rest of my life however short it may be.

DO NOT GIVE UP ON YOURSELF. You only have one life to live. Can you get a different insurance carrier? What other options do you have to improve your quality of life today? However small...drink one more glass of water each day, walk two houses away from your house and back, tap your feet for five minutes....THINK OUT OF THE BOX. Monica

I have United HealthCare and I was approved in 1 week. I had my surgery in Pittsburgh, PA, with Dr. Schaver, the best in this surgery. He is so wonderful. I had my RNY surgery on May15,03. I had a VBG in 1997 and it came completely undone, I was having problems eating and throwing up and of course not loseing. We found out I had the problem of the staples and band problem when I had my test done for this surgery. Dr. Schaver repaired my stomach, he had a large amount of scar tissue to remove from there and he took my gallbladder out, and did a hernia repair. There was scar tissue with that and he removed scar tissue from my old open from the VBG. I also had an open with this surgery. Dr. Schaver accepts this insurance and many others, he also has a large surgeral staff that accepts other insurance as well. If your insurance denies your surgery, they will send it in a total of 3 times asking for approval, if they still denie you, he himself goes after them, according to him, he has never had a problem with an insurance company dening him once he goes after them. My surgery cost around $73,000. Being he sent me to another hospital, he is also from that hospital, and it was out of the network, (he wanted me to go there since I had so much work to be done and he felt I was a risk patent, he felt this was a better hospital, anyway, our out of pocket expense for the surgery is about $1,500, not bad. If anyone would like to email me, feel free. Diane