another question

Sorry! I forgot to ask about which diet I should use for my 6 month supervised diet? My insurance suggested Optifast, Medifast, Jenny Craig, Weigh****chers, etc.  Thanks for the advice!

I think Weight Wwatchers is a great choice it is a low cal diet . The booklet is proof of dieting that can be sent to the insurance company with your weekly weights written in it PLUS you will weigh in monthly at the doctors office . LOTS of documentation thats why I loved it !!

Karen, Does your diet need to be a physician supervised weight loss plan?  Mine and most I have heard of need to be monitored at least monthly by your doctor-usually primary care physician.  Some also require nutrtionist/dietician visits, exercise, and so on.  Find out EXACTLY what your insurance wants and what type of documentation you need.  I was at my surgeon's office today and they said they have a full shelf (six feet across) of folks trying to do their insurance mandated diets and it can be really tricky to get the documentation correct. For myself, I kept notes at each visit that highlighted what the doc and I needed to/did discuss each month and my doctor signed off on them each month.  My surgeon's office LOVED it.  This way if the docs notes are incomplete, we have written/signed proof of everything needed. What I needed was discussions of 1) Nutrition/diet, 2) Exercise and physical activity, 3) Behavioral Changes for weight loss, and 4) diet drugs suggested or why they were NOT suggested. Again, find out what your insurance requires and document it exactly the way they want it done.   Good luck, LR

Thank you both so much for your advice! I visited my pcp today for my first visit. I didn't have anything for her to sign, but I copied what my insurance co. wanted to approve me, and she followed that guideline. My insurance did not say if it had to be 6 consecutive months or if it could just be any 6 months during the last 24 months. I have been at least 6 times in the last 24 months, but they were not consecutive. Do you think that will be sufficient? Thanks! Karen

You could go to Sparkle People.com  (free site) they have excellent information and an excellent nutritional /food tracker which helps you calculate calories; fat grams, carbohydrate grams and protein grams.  You can print up the daily food diary and you can also track you weight and inches.   You can take all of that to the doctor's and have him/her sign and review it all monthly...keep it all together with your doctor's recomendations/records and monthly weights. You can track your water and exercise.  It is really a good site to use in combination with your doctor's records.   They also have excellent articles and information that you could print up and take to talk with your doctor about such as beahvior modification, exercise, nutirtion etc. Just an  idea...My advise...whatever you do...document...document....document !!!!! Good luck

I'm in the midst of completing my 12 month diet documentation requirement for BCBS.  I had my insurance company send me - in writing - the exact wording for the diet requirements and what needed to be discussed or done to fulfil the requirements.  It wasn't just diet and documentation, so a program like Weigh****chers wouldn't fit the bill.  It actually has to be supervised by a medical doctor (not a program leader of a diet program).  And the notes from those visits must be part of my medical records.  And there's a whole list of things that needed to be fulfilled... diet, exercise therapy/counseling, Rx therapy, nutrition education, etc.   Before I found out that I needed this type of detailed information ... I had just my own documentation of dieting (my personal weight charts, food log, exercise log) but that wasn't enough for the insurance company.  so my advice is to get in writing exactly what the insurance company requires then follow those requirements to a T --- they don't allow a lot of room for intruptation. Pam

It all depends on *your* policy.  For example, my BCBS policy requires 6 months in the last 24, "medically monitored" and it *recommends* Weigh****chers as a program.  The cust service rep I spoke with about the program said to make sure I had an appt with my PCP each month so he could monitor my progress on the WW program.  I actually had him initial the WW booklet each time I went to see him.  We discussed the diet, excercise and counseling elements of the WW program each time.  So check with your policy and get the exact wording.