BCBS of SOUTH CAROLINA

hey, do any of you guys have them as your ins? If so, do they need the 6 month dr sup diet??? I checked the ins forum and no one mentioned it... and I checked the website and couldnt find the coverage policy on it... let me know!

That is what I have and they didnt' make me do that. I don't know if BCBS has one standard plan, or if your employer has any kind of special deals with them. I know I had originally wanted to just get the lap band, and some people on BCBS told me they had it done and it was paid for, but my employer's contract with BCBS does not cover the band. I was mad enought to spit nails at the time, but looking back it was a blessing for me that they didn't cover the band. I don't know why I was so scared to have the by-pass done, just in our nature I guess to be afraid of anything that extreme.

I have BCBS of SC PPO. I was approved in a few days. No diet needed. When I called them to ask them if they covered weight loss surgery for obesity I was told no. After talking to some people I was told to ask them ablut morbid obesity. I did and they said yes. Everything went great....Love Jennifer..I had my surgery on 2/7/07.

I have BCBS of MA ... not only did they not require any pre-diet.. but they have an entire section in the handbook dedicated to Weight Loss Surgery ... All said and done.. my surgery was almost $71k .... I paid out of pocket $1,020.00

There is a website you can check for provider and hopital and labs etc to see if it is covered by BCBS of South Carolina. It is http://www.southcarolinablues.com/bcbs/bcbs_redo.nsf It is a very helpful webage for those who have their insurance. However, if your company that subcontracts under them has placed some pervision then it would be under that companys contract with the insurance company. Two suggestions 1) just call the 1800 number on the back of your card and ask them if biatric surgery is covered if the person has health issues related to obesity. They will tell you if you have the coverage AND if your company put some pervision such as being on a diet plan for 6 months. Make sure you take the name of the person, the time of the call and document it in case there are problems later. 2) Many surgeons offices have an insurance dedicated person to assist in looking at your privilates and if they have used the BCBS from your company then they can tell you as well, or assist you in how to find out. Hope this helps & Good luck

I also have BCBS PPO through hubbys work. I had no out of pocket except 300.00 for stupid phych test also no pre diet stuff required. Each employer has what they cover so your best bet is to call your insurance and ask. Good luck Marcey

Okay, so now I'm really confused....I have the BCBS Standard Plan (as a teacher) and was told by MUSC and by my carrier that they do not, under any cir****tance, cover the surgery!! So, I'm having to pay out of pocket! Why do some areas of BCBS cover it and some not??? This totally sucks!

Jean! MUSC made a decision as of the new year to stop covering. I was interviewing for a position there and when i found that out, I declined the offer. I dont know why they wouldnt want to support their own program, but they dont! BCBS of SC has hundred of plans that other employers use and as long as the employer doesnt choose to NOT cover it ( as MUSC did) then it defaults to BCBS standard, which is to cover is medically nec.

I work for BCBS and it's entirely dependent on who you work for if they choose to include that as a covered benefit for their group coverage. BCBS only covered for employees for a year and a half and now they don't even cover it anymore for us. In addition to the other suggestions, you can also talk to your HR rep at work as they should know or if you have a benefits booklet, it should say. The scblues website may or may not have it. It's not updated as quickly sometimes as paper documents for some reason....