Years ago (2011) when i first started the process for bariatric surgery (got talked out of it, long story) the wording of my insurance policy was "doctor supervised diet". 

I have a different insurance now, BCBS of TN and the wording is alot different. 

• Attending physician documents adherence to a non-surgical weight loss program (e.g. dietary management, behavior modification, and/or exercise) with ALL of the following:

• • Most recent attempt was within 2 years of request for surgery

  • Participation was for a minimum of 6 months.

Can anyone tell me if this is the same thing, or if they just have to say yeah they have done this this this and blah of # months.

I tried asking the nice BCBS service rep for clarification, but she said that's all it said. I have my consult in december. But I have had some hiccups with my PCP retiring our of no where, and the area I live in has a doc shortage, so it's been one thing after another. 

I had read a few places that some BCBS networks had changed to not needing a "supervised diet" and just wondered if this was the wording for that.

Thanks for any help

Hello Mrs. Judy B. would you please send my a copy of the letter. I was recently denied with UHC and I would like to appeal and don't know where to start. I would love for them to approve my first appeal. I would great appreciate it if you can help me out. UHC covered my gastric but said panniectomy/ abdominal plastic is not covered! HELP PLEASE THANKS 

Wondering if anyone in SC has Blue Choice medicaid and whether or not you had to go through the 6 month diet before being authorized to have surgery?

Thanks so much for your response.  I have met with a bariatric surgeon and his team.  I think I am just overthinking everything and am really anxious about getting an approval when the time comes to submit everything.  When I went to the new patient seminar, they did mention the items they would need from me to get an approval and medical records was not one of the items.  I was pretty much told the same as you.  I was reading other post and someone mentioned the whole medical records thing and it made me wonder if I would need the same. Like I said, I think I am just anxious and overthinking everything.  Especially since I have a 4 months left on my medically supervised diet.  Lots of time to overanalyze.  lol 

Again, thanks for you response.  

I have Federal BCBS, not BCBS MN, but I did the same thing as you. I wanted to be proactive and gather everything before I met anyone. Turns out, all I really had to do was go meet with a bariatric surgeon.  They are experts in this area and can tell you everything that will be expected of you, and give you all of the forms and examples of how letters should be written for your specific plan. 

If there is anything they need from you, an experienced bariatric team will do almost everything they can to help you get it. All I had to give my office was my primary care support letter - which they templated and gave to me to have her sign. Mine had to contain certain key words and phrases to get approved. (P.S. approval took about 7 days).

If you haven't attended a new patient seminar, I would suggest you start there.