Signa

Please e-mail me at [email protected] Has anyone used signa? Thats what we have.

I have CIGNA hmo......and EVERYONE has different things that happen to them with cigna! they change their rules to suit their needs.....just be SURE you have everything they ask for and make it all neat and nice and tidy!! i fought TWO years to get help from them!! and finally won on my last, 2nd level appeal on a phone conference....its NOT easy to fight them, but for me it was worth it!! and no matter what anyone says, you MUST HAVE A RECENT 6 month doctor SUPERVISED diet or they wont even listen to you!! this has been MY experience and that of quite a few others I know of! (although, i do know someone who was approved without it but she used a lawyer) they are STICKLERS for it, I was even asked about it during my phone conference even though they had the papers right in front of them!!! .....good luck with them!!!!!

Ok let me try this again. I got almost finished with my post and then I hit the power bar with my foot and shut down the computer. lol NOT good. Anyway, I had mentioned that I had Cigna a while back. They were allowing their people or clients or what ever we are to them lol the option of having Gastric Bypass Surgery. At the time all we had to come up with was 500.00. That was a time when I was seriously starting to think about plastic surgery, but yet I was scared to death. I wasn't sure if I wanted the huge scar that ran from the middle of my stomach down to my pubic bone. I am pretty tight and flat and have some definition where my abs are (well let me rephrase that I DID even though I was pretty big.....now after weight loss it's all just loose skin lol) and even though I am not the type to ever run around half naked I do like crop tops sometimes and didn't want that huge scar showing. Now I have Blue Cross and Blue Shield and they would in NO WAY pay for anything as far as weight is concerned unless you are on your death bed. Not even Dr. prescribed pills and a dr.s care for weight loss. I posted earlier under my topic, but even though I was 100 lbs (or maybe a little more) overweight I was considered healthy. I have real bad female problems (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome) and history of heart disease and all kind of stuff, but still I didn't have anything but the female problems. All other tests came back normal and so I was considered healthy. Now that I have lost 70 to 75 lbs they surely wont pay for anything that has to do with skin removal. They don't find it a necessity. I am sorry but I DO. For my own well being, and sake I find it VERY necessary. To me I feel that I have worked my butt off to get to where I am, but yet I still am not able to find clothes to fit me. If I buy them one size they are too big and if I go down a size they are too small and no matter what I wear my skin hangs out over whether it's too big or too small. That's still painful for me. Therefore I feel like there should be some kind of coverage. It's Same thing for dental also. I need things done to my teeth but it's all considered cosmetic. I don't know guys.....will there every be any hope for us or will we have to go into thousands of dollars of debt in order to be thin? Bridge =)

Cigna was really quite good to me...maybe I was fortunate! I called them first and asked what they needed to see to approve my RnY (they did NOT want me to call it weight-loss surgery!). I worked with ONE person - she gave me her fax number - because I asked to send all my info through her so I didn't have to go through the embarassment of explaining my situation to someone different everytime I called in. I did not have to provide a 6 mos diet BUT I gave a diet history going back to 2nd grade, including a chart of my weight lost and gained over all the years and all the diets, plus all the co-morbids. They are probably stricter now with the 6 mos, but I was approved within 24 hours. When it was time to submit for the skin removal on my stomach, I did the same thing. I called and maintained contact with ONE person through approval. Knowing what they needed to see to prove medical necessity made it easier for me to get my stuff in order.

You were very lucky mendi, do you have the HMO or the PPO?? they wouldnt even let my own PCP know what their exact guidelines were....or the surgeons office!! we had to wing it!! and they changed their guidelines and threw curveballs and added things that I had to have with EVERY appeal!! Ive never dealt with an insurance like them....and never COULD get just one person to help me out at all until my last, 2nd level appeal and that was the moderator for my Phone conference!! You were very fortunate!!!