Now what?????

I posted this as an answer to another post, but I thought that if I post if on it's own, someone somewhere may have an idea of what I should do now. I really can't afford to sue the insurance company (especially if I need to save my $$$ for surgery), so I have no idea what to do now.... When I started this journey in Feb. 2005, I had read profiles on this board that gave me a lot of hope in fighting an exclusion, especially if it is worded poorly as mine is. (No mention of surgery, just services & treatment.) I have been continually denied and have sent complaints to the State of Illinois Dept. of Insurance along with the State's Attourney General and the CEO of the insurance company. My insurance company AGREES that it is medically necessary, they just say that they do not have to cover it because I work for a small company and they do not offer coverage of bariatric surgery to small groups or individuals. They even went so far as to tell me to take my business elsewhere, our premium money means nothing to them. I have argued until I am blue in the face (and spirit) that the exclusion is poorly worded, and that I find it discriminatory that they will cover someone who works for a large comapny, but not a small employer..... I just got the reply last night from the Department of Insurance and they say that my insurance company has not broken any laws by not offering the same coverage to a small company that they offer to a large company and that I am S.O.O.L. (s**t out of luck), they will do nothing to help me. I find this completely unfair, but the state does not seem to care. I do not really have the option to find another job, as I run the family-owned business for my father-in-law. The only thing that I may be able to do is try to find a carrier that will offer this coverage to a small group and start all over again in the fall. My heart is pretty much broken at the moment, and I am sorry not to be able to give you much hope. Thanks for listening...... Dawn

Privately email Gary at obesitylawyersdotcom...you will see a question to him further down on this page. He is going to handle an exclusion appeal for me, and he's been through this.