Appealing

Hello, I had the lapband in 2003 and submitted info to the insurance company for approval for an abdominoplasty. I had documentation/pictures showing several rashes, back/abdominal pain and 3 of my private docs wrote support letters and they still denied me saying it was cosmetic. Is it the norm for an insurance company to deny you first and if you appeal it they more than likely approves it? How many times can you appeal? How far can you go? I have heard some patients refer to taking an appeal to the "state board" what is that? By the way I have UHC ppo options for both of my insurances.(primary/secondary) I plan to fight this. My heart is not excepting no for an answer! Thanks,

Take a look at your denial letter or the insurance policy it should spell out the time frames to appeal and deadlines.