Let's stand together to fight insurance companies

I have decided to do something about our insurance companies. It may or may not do any good, but I'm sure gonna try. Medicare and Medicaid both pay for the surgery, as does Fed. Blue Cross Blue Shield. North Carolina BCBS is EXPANDING their coverage of WLS this coming year, and yet, more and more insurance companies across the nation are denying coverage as of Jan.1, 2005. Insurance companies need to be held accountable to somebody and I intend to do my best to see that they are. I would love to have a law passed in each state that insurance companies CANNOT have written exclusions in their policies, and that if a person meets the criterior set forth by the NIH, the insurance companies HAVE to pay for it. The hell with all this appeal crap---we shouldn't have to go thru that for life saving surgery. If we needed CORONARY bypass surgery, we wouldn't have to wait for insurance companies to decide if we NEED the surgery or not, and Gastric bypass should be the same, because most of us, if we don't lose the weight, are going to need the coronary bypass anyway, and that is a whole lot more expensive than the gastric bypass. Coronary Bypass is approximately $100,000.00, whereas Gastric Bypass is usually between $20 and $25,000.00. Quite a difference, don't you think? How is it that the people that run insurance companies are too stupid to see the vast difference in the two amounts. This doesn't even take into consideration the money they shell out for prescriptions that could be saved, should these people have Gastric Bypass, or the excess money they will be paying out for prescriptions for those who have coronary bypass. Does this make sense to anyone other than the insurance companies, and even with them, I personally think the people making these stupid decisions have screws loose somewhere. Can you tell I'm on my soapbox? I think I will keep posting this periodically thru the day and night for the next several days to reach as many of you as possible. Pass the word along to get in touch with me. Lets' all each other. Jeannie

RIGHT ON!!!!

Hi, Michael! I haven't had many responses because evidently several people in the past have posted similar posts and not followed through with them. (At least that's what several of the emails I have gotten have told me.) At this very time, I am printing addresses of our US congressmen from all fifty states, and I intend to contact each and every one of them. My insurance has a written exclusion which I personally think is discrimating against me. My policy covers treatment for alcohol and drug abuse, but not WLS surgery. I am considered a lightweight, however I have just about all of the co-morbidities that one can have. I need this surgery for my health, and if I don't get it, I can all but promise the insurance company that they will end up paying out much more on me than if they pay for the surgery. Quite ironically, I am a registered nurse and work for an atttorney. What kind of insurance do you have? What is your story? Thanks for your response, and hope to hear from you again. Take Care and God Bless!