update on approval

hay yall... hows everyone? doin ok on this end... ok the guy from cigna called me... and heres what he said that im goin into a second level appeal process... and this is when a committie put together and i am confrenced in... he said that he is gonna send me a letter of when this is gonna happen... does anyone know what the likley hood on approval of this is? what do you say? has anyone had one of these? alexa

Alexa, My friend Brooke had to do this with Aetna. Here's how it went with them: Basically, she was given 5-10 minutes to plead her case as to why they should approve her surgery. She brought copies of all her paperwork with her, she went through all her comorbidities (depression, sleep apnea, HBP, bad knees, etc) and how long she had been dealing with them, she reviewed the meds she takes daily, all the methods of weightloss she has tried in the past, then she went into detail as to how her life had been impacted with her obesity and how all her doctors thought WLS was her last resort at a normal life again. She was honest and cried throughout the whole conference call. Her parents were there with her for support and when it was over she was approved. Brooke had her surgery in Oct 2003, she was 320lbs, today she is a size 4 and just had her hernia removal/tummy tuck surgery. Make sure you have all your points written down so you don't lose focus(don't wing it), make sure you sound professional, be honest and be yourself. Good luck!

Alexa, This is good news! I am glad your not quitting. I pray the second level appeal goes wonderfully and you finally get the approval you deserve! I don't know anyone who has been involved in an appeal like this, but I do wish the best for you! I would write down exactly what I want to say to be sure and not leave anything out! Let them know this is your last resort at a healtheir life and you have done all the diets you could do and you have done everything they requested! Let us know of the date please! You are in my prayers! MICHELLE

That's very good news alexa, we are all praying for you. -Flávia