I need help with acceptance letter.

Does this site have a sample letter that I could refer to . My insurance requires a letter containing past diets, how many pounds lost or gained, and they would like to know how having WLS would better my life.Thanks with any help you can give. Jeanette

This is a letter someone posted on their profile a while ago. It is typed to be from her doctor to the insurance co, but almost all of the letters I have come across so far look about the same. Just change the names and instances to fit your situation and this should work for you. I wish I still had mine, but I have since upgraded my pc and it is gone...sorry! Hope this will help! -Amie Aetna Health Inc. P. O. box 1125 Blue Bell, PA 19422 RE: Jan Lindsey Group #xxxxxx Member ID #xxxxx Request for Pre-approval for gastric bypass surgery (CPT-4 Code= 43847) To Whom It May Concern: I have been the physician of record for Ms. Jan Lindsey for more than 10 years. She is 46 years of age, stands 5' 1" tall and weighs 223 lbs. She relates that she has a history of obesity since the age of 13 with a current BMI of 44.6. The body mass index is calculated by dividing a person's weight in kilograms by their height in meters squared. When a woman's BMI exceeds 27.3, that person is considered obese. The degree of obesity associated with a particular BMI ranges from mild obesity at a BMI near 27, moderate obesity at a BMI between 27 - 30, severe obesity at 30 - 35, to morbidly obese for patients with a BMI of 40 or greater. Ms. Lindsey's weight condition has caused her significant health problems, some of which appear to be getting progressively worse as time goes on. Some of this patient's current health problems are high blood pressure (last measured at 180/90), heart palpitations, hip, leg, ankle and foot pain, and lower extremity edema. She experiences shortness of breath on any exertion. In addition, there is a family history of heart disease and Type II diabetes mellitus. Ms. Lindsey knows the health risks associated with morbid obesity as well as yo-yo dieting, and has done her best to control her weight. In an effort to resolve her weight problem, she has undergone numerous weight loss treatment plans. While under my care, she attempted Weigh****chers in 2001 for 6 months, starting at 228.2 lbs. - ending at 189.4 lbs.). During this time she also joined a local gym and attended classes 2-3 times per week. In 2003 she again attempted Weigh****chers and in the course of the last year, Ms. Lindsey lost and regained 30 lbs. Ms. Lindsey has been under my care for more than ten years and during that time I have monitored her success/failure on weight loss programs. Ms. Lindsey's first weigh in at my office was at 173 lbs. and his/her weight today is 235 lbs. Her highest weight under my supervision was 235 lbs. and the lowest was 165_ lbs. The most weight Ms. Lindsey has ever lost at one time was during the Optifast program in 1989 when she lost 72 lbs. that was covered under her insurance plan at that time. It has had no long-term success. Ms. Lindsey has weighed nearly 200 lbs. since the 1980s and has been developing health concerns such as high blood pressure and leg edema since that time. Ms. Lindsey's repeated attempts at losing weight, only to re-gain it, have proven to cause her more health concerns. Ms. Lindsey is an active female whose work profession as a hospital liaison demands extensive amounts of walking, which her weight problems are impeding. In my estimation, it is time for a PERMANENT resolution to eliminate future health concerns related to morbid obesity. From the success rate known from gastric bypass surgery and health benefits involved, I feel this would be the BEST solution for PERMANENT weight loss and beneficial for future health concerns due to morbid obesity and current health conditions from worsening. Obesity has been shown to directly increase health care costs. In an article in the March 9, 1998, issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine 17,118 members of the Kaiser Permenente Medical Care Program were studied to determine the association between body fatness and health care costs. The results showed that patients with BMI's greater than 30 had a 2.4 times greater risk for increased inpatient and outpatient costs than patients with BMI's under 30. Americans spend an additional $33 billion dollars annually on weight-reduction products and services, including diet foods, products, and programs. Most of these expenditures, as is evidenced in this case, are not effective. Rather it can expected that Ms. Lindsey will continue to gain weight and the costs of co-morbid conditions, including the ones she already has and ones she surely will acquire as time goes on, will far outweigh the costs of gastric bypass surgery that we are asking you to please approve for this lady. I trust this information will aide you in understanding the true severity of Ms. Lindsey's case and in facilitating the proper assessment. Please feel free to contact me if I can answer or clarify any questions you might have. Sincerely, Nina Hare, D.O.

Hello Jeanette, What I did was write everything down that I have done to lose weight over the last 20 years and gave it to the doctor. Along with his weights that are recorded and all of my problems he wrote the letter for me. Stateing why I would benefit from he surgery. I would have a talk with hiom also. The letter that amie gave you seems to be a good one. Good Luck, Richard

HI RICHARD, THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY, I AM AT THE FIRST STAGES OF THIS PROCESS, I HOPE MY INSURANCE COMPANY WILL O.K. THE SURGERY, I READ YOUR PROFILE AND IT SEEMS THAT YOUR DOING GREAT, I HOPE IAM AS BLESSED,TAKE CARE, JEANETTE

the letter that i wrote is in my profile...i don't know if it's what your looking for or not, but feel free to take a look. good luck to you! kym