Pushing for an approval...

Let be begin by saying I am super morbidly obese. That in an of itself is enough indicator I would think to get insurance approval but I'm sure I'm wrong on that. I have so far, no comorbitities. I have been going through my tests and to my knowledge, still no comorbitities. My upper GI - Clear. Chest xray - Clear. No Diabetes, no high cholestererol, BP within normal limits. Yet, I weight 389lbs... I did my sleep study test. Ok, I wasnt the best patient in the world there. I didnt think I had sleep apnea so I felt my time was better spent, at home, in bed with my wife... I go through the motions, blah blah, zzzzz.. Wake up in the morning and they tell me, "well call you if you need to come back." Great... Didnt hear anyhting until last night when the lady calls to confirm my appointment for tonite. I said I suppose your saying that I have sleep apnea. Oh, you didnt know? Let me look.. Oh yes you have mild sleep apnea. Hardly convincing.. So my question is this.. Does anyone out there think that maybe these surgeons are digging at times to find comorbidities so they get paid??? I certainly hope not. And honestly I love my surgeon. He's a close family friend. But the process seems flawed.. Like they here's this guy who should have Diabetes, hypertension, angina, sleep apnea, gerd and everything else but doesnt.. so they dig and the only thing they can come up with is "mild sleep apnea." If I were an insurance company, I'd be like rrrriighhttt.. denied... Chipymunk

Hi Charles! Let me say, I can understand your frustration. I am just starting out and haven't had any of those tests yet but I know I will have to. My PCP is in the process of referring me for a sleep study but he thinks (based on my symptoms) that I DO have sleep apnea. But let me just say this, it's my opinion that they HAVE to do these tests, #1 - insurance co. requirements (I think) and #2 to rule out if you have any of the comorbs or to find out if you do, whi*****ase will help with insurance approval (in most cases unless you have an exclusion on your policy) and also to take the appropriate precautions before, after and during surgery. For instance, if you have sleep apnea, I believe they have to monitor you more closely or do something, I'm not sure what, lol, to ensure your safety during and immediately following surgery (Just for instance, I'm sure they don't want to go through all that and operate on you and have you stop breathing on them!!! ). Anyways, be glad that they are being thorough with your medical care and that they found out you have sleep apnea now. Your very lucky you don't have any other comorbs, wish I was so lucky. Anyways, just thought I'd offer my opinion for what it's worth. Good luck and hope you get approved soon. Tammy in TN

Yes, Tammy is right when it comes to having these tests before you can be approved for WLS. They are a MUST by the insurance companies. They MUST know if you have sleep apnea or not. They must monitore your breathing and some people must go to the ICU for a night to be watched closely. I had a mild case so was not worried about it and infact I don't use my CPAP machine anymore. Even if you don't have comorbitities right now you can develope them later on down the road. Would you not rather have WLS now and avoid problems later on down the road? I wish I could have had WLS before all my problems started but I had to wait. Donna 338/224 -114