HOW DOES "SELF INSURED" affect approval

I have Aetna, but my company is self insured... does anyone know how this impacts or affects the approval process

Doesn't affect it at all.  My company is self insured also.  It just means that the company pays the claims.

so its still aetna who approves or denies???  I am just trying to come up with some reason this is occurring... still waiting for the letter... : )

Yes, Aetna is still who approves or denies.  I am curious too, if your BMI is 62 and you have fulfilled the other requirements, I can't imagine what it must be other than the 2 year history thing.  Both my daughter and a friend of mine were denied for that exact reason 'lack of proof of obesity for the past 2 years' even though they had 3-4 years of medical history submitted !  Do you know for sure that your surgeon's office (or did your PCP submit for approval??) included your medical history proving you had a high enough BMI fo rthe past 2 years without dropping below the required BMI?

It doesn't, much.  "Self insured" means that all Aetna does is administer claims and benefits (including surgical approvals) paying out your employer's money, not Aetna's. 

As long as your employeer hasn't excluded WLS from your policy the Aetna's medical policy guidelines will still apply.  So as long as you meet their wls criteria, you'll get approved. 

The advantage to your company being self insured, is that if Aetna continues to deny you for surgery, you may be able to appeal to your company's HR department. I thought I was going to have to do that with BCBS, but they approved me on appeal.