BCBS of IL.

 I submitted my paperwork to them. They wrote back stating I have to have 12 months of Supervised dieting. I did the 6 month thing. I saw some of you have the exact insurance but I don't understand how can they say its okay for you to have 6 months of dieting but not other people? In Indiana they have a law that insurance companies can only allow no more than 6 months, But since my insurance company is in another state my doctor says indiana laws are out the window. Can anyone help me?  Robin

Hello
I have the same insurance.My policy says 6 month supervised diet. I know that a while back they wanted 12 month. I have not seen anyone say thay they needed 12 month diet recently though. I would request a copy of the policy. Also you should post onthe IL board. i reside in GA but i post on the il board becuase of course peolple there have BCBS of IL. don't give up. APPEAL!

Hi Robin! I also have BCBS of Illinois. They only required me to have a 6 month supervised diet. The only reason I can think of that you have to do 12 months is maybe because that is the plan your employer purchased. I'm so sorry that you have to go through 12 months of the supervised diet! You have to look at the bright side, though....at least you'll be smaller when you start and it you won't have as much to lose! When I first started, I thought the six month diet would take FOREVER, but it really didn't. Now that I look back, it seems as if it went really fast.  I wish I could help you out more, but I can't. I would ask Gary Viscio about the laws in Illinois or look on this website for their laws.(I don't know exactly where it is, but I know it's here!)  I do, however, have advice for you. I would try and get as much info out of them about what they want on their twelve month diet records! I asked and they only gave me the info that was online and in my insurance plan book. Now that I'm through with my six month diet, they say that my PCP didn't write enough info on there. They wanted weight goals, exercise goals, and diet plan(for example, low calorie diet). My PCP wrote all of this on my records, but she didn't specifically write "weight goals:" and  "exercise goals:" She wrote that I was on Nutrisystem, but not that Nutrisystem was my "diet plan." Go figure! I think they're just looking for reasons to deny people. I clearly have everything that they requested, but it just didn't work for me. I've had my PCP to add "weight goal" and "exercise goal" to my records and have resubmitted them. On Friday, I called to see if they'd received them and the c/s girl said yes, but they show to be duplicates of other records we have on file. I explained to her that my PCP added the necessary changes and so she forwarded them to the medical review board. I'm praying that she'll just give up and approve me! I truly hope things go better for you! Just make sure your PCP writes as much as possible on your dietary visits! Let me know how things go for you!  Karen

Hi Robin, I am Shirley, I also have BCBSIL, I just got Denied for not losing enough weight, and I have lodt 95 lbs(over 4 yrs), my policy requires only a 6 month diet, but I did and stil am doing one, a total of 74 week supervised diet, unfortunately, I have found out, that state laws do not apply. They only go under Federal, which falls under the E.R.I.S.A. act of '74 law. You might want to read up on it. It will not afford you an oppertunity to have a state appeal. Anyway, I hope this helps.. If you need anymore info, I will try and help, as will anyone here on OH, you are not alone.. Gary is wonderful and he is the best!! I am contacting him to do my appeal. Shirl, Las Vegas