I'm going to have to tell you all I was pleased with my whole experience. As for time I would say less than I would have thought It was faxed 9-19-08 and had surgery 11-18-08.
 Now I would have to say the what helps is having a group of people who know there stuff. I went through the Legacy Good Samaritan Obesity Institute. They have everything right there if you need a sleep study, dietician, Mental eval its all right there. It sure speeds things up in the long run to have folks that know the whole system.  Heres the info:

Legacy Good Samaritan Obesity Institue
1040 NW 22nd Ave.
Good Samaritan Building 2, Suite 520
Portland Oregon
503-413-7557

 Good luck!

i started in december 07 and they just submitted to insurance last week. the whole process is slow, the staff is slow. they lose stuff ,say they don't receive stuff, wont return calls. i hand delivered most of my paperwork and they still drug their feet. on one occasion i called to speak to the new intake girl and she actually made me cry , she was so rude. she proceeded to tell me the stuff was missing, when i know for a fact it was all there right in front of her, because i hand delivered it myself. from the beginning they tell you what you should do , but they don't really explain how to go about doing any of it. if you have not already seen a psychologist  yet and had an evail, you need to do so on your own accord. because that will hold up the process if you haven't. and they don't tell you that it can be a psychiatrist,psychologist, or any NP at that ,just as long as they are a dr, and they can say whether or not you are fit or unfit for surgery. that is what they told me at my app with the NP. i had my nutri app in june and my NP app in september. you need to stay on them because they will try to give you the run around.  hand deliver when possible or have your drs give you a confirmation that they sent it. also keep track of dates when stuff is sent in, i guess they have a log now of everything that faxed in, it gets logged in when they finally realize it is there. sorry if all this is harsh, but i have been waiting along time for them to get everything in line, and i feel like i am the one doing all of the work. making app., faxing, delivering, and all they have to do is put it in order to submit to insurance.
oh and just FYI, they told me at the seminar that it would take somewhere between 4 to 6 months from beginning to end. and its been almost a year. go figure. good  luck

Denied
and they wont flippen tell you why over the phone.............errrrrrrrgggg i am so frustrated with them , i jumped through all the hoops and then they deny me . has anyone else had to deal with bcbs of minnisota?

Hi everyone,
Just a reminder that the Salem BOST support group is meeting tomorrow night. 
Place:  Salem Hospital Room D, basement
Time: 6:30pm

Everyone is welcome, pre or post-op and you are also welcome to bring a support person with you as well.

We had a fantastic turn out last week and hope to meet or beat it this week. I will have some tips for the holiday season to share.

Pam, Facilitator
503-930-0196

Linda,  someday I really am going to get to one of your meetings.  I am traveling a lot with my job now and do enjoy it but makes it difficult to do other things I want to do.  I also have a new granddaughter, see my new avatar.  She is sweet.  I think about all my Eugene area WLS buddies a lot.   Julia