Question about Mediciad approval....

This is for those who have had WLS and used Medicaid. All documentation was submitted to my surgeon on July 24th. I was told by the patient rep that 1) if anything was missing or needed that she didnt have she would email me immediately to let me know and 2) it would take her a few days to get everything in order before she could send it in to Medicaid. I had assumed it would take a minimum of two weeks from the time I turn all my documentation in to actually getting approved by insurance. Its only been 11 days now so Im in no way worried about this yet. Is there a way to contact Medicaid about this and see where I stand? What was your experience?

hi, i have medicaid and my surgeon and plenty of people told me that medicaid will not answer any questions if you call. in fact if you are denied, the will send a denial in the form of codes that will need to be decoded to find out why. adrienne

Medicaid does have a care line the number is 1800-662-7030. I am not sure if they will give you the info but you can call. Also make sure that those days are business days not just 11 days from the date submitted. When was the documentation actually sent? If you go to the Dept of Medical Assistance web site you can review the the prior approval information for Gastric Bypass. The address is http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/dma/mp/mpindex.htm gastric bypass is item #15. (you can also pull the info up in the October 2005 medcaid bulletin) It took less than 3 weeks for me to be denied and then approved. I do know that the prior approval for dental has a huge back log . . I have been trying to be approved for some advanced (but covered) dental services since June. I hope you are able to get some answers. Phenom 322/289/160

The documentation was submitted to the surgeons office on July 24th. I was told it would be submitted within 3 days, but I dont know the exact date. They did tell me that Medicaid has approved within 14 days in their experience.... Im expecting something either good or bad soon.

Again I wish you well on your journey. If you have any questions please feel free to e-mail me. Take care Phenom 322/287/160