waiting on approval

im just waiting on the approval from my insurance company...united health care...anyway its been a week since I saw the dr and he said that he would send my letter to the insurance right away... so i figured i would call the insurance company today and see what they said.. she told me they haven't even gotten the letter yet.. i guess my idea of right away and my drs is two diff things.. how long did it take you guys to find out if you were appr or not...

I learned that it is more of a process at the MD's office than we think.  He writes the letter than it goes to the authorization department and they put a package together that includes the MD letter and sends it off to the insurance company.  Unfortunately, we are not the only patients to go thru this process.  It is for every surgery done at that hospital. 
When my insurance company (BC of Mass) finally did get my package, it was approved in 24 hours. 
Hope this helps.....................waiting is the worst part of this process.

i waited 2 weeks from the day my surgeon's office said they submitted my info.

I have Blue Cross and they said it would take two weeks.  It took two weeks to the day.  It was torture to wait but it will happen eventually.  I was "proactive" in calling the insurance but they just kept telling me that I had to wait the two weeks.  I do wonder if they made me wait the two weeks because I annoyed them by calling so much.

My dr's office was great though.  they sent the paperwork right when they said they would.