Insurance Company wants "Proof" of previous weight loss attempts!?!

I am extremely perplexed at this moment!!! My insurance company has requested additional information... seems they now want "PROOF" of my previous attempts to lose weight!!! They appear to not be taking my word for all the attempts, even though I have journalled them all and provided them with specific dates of each attempt. I'm going nuts trying to find any shreds of "evidence" that I've been on various programs in the past. What is it exactly that they are looking for, and how much "evidence" is needed!?! I have found several old Weigh****cher weight loss booklets that show previous weigh ins, but can't manage to find all of them. Not only that, one of them has the entire 12 weeks of records with the wrong year stamped into it... the year was actually 1998 and it shows it to be 1989.... quite a difference in timeframe (and, I'm sure the insurance company wants more recent than that). Do the insurance companies think that you hold onto every receipt for every diet book you ever bought, for every on-line program you've ever subscribed to, etc.??? I would appreciate any words of wisdom or advice on just what is needed to prove that I have tried enough programs out there to suffice their question as to whether I am "worthy" of getting their approval to have weight loss surgery. Thanks, Karen G.

KAREN Sorry You are having so much trouble with them. I fought for 16 months but finally won. I also gave them a run down of maybe the last 10 yrs and the dates the best as possible and there maybe a couple of those then that were dr supervised and they didn't want that. They wanted current documentation. Like the last 2yrs and I didn't have that so I had to do the 6mth supervised diet. I know that is not what you wanted to hear but that is the way CIGNA was. KathyJ

All companies are different, but mine accepted a letter from my doctor documenting my previous attempts, thank heavens, because like you, I never kept receipts or records.I never dreamed I'd need that crap, and most of it just documented failures on my behalf, why would you want to keep that? I'm guessing what they want is official documentation of physician-supervised diets. Doesn't it just tick you off that you easily qualify and pay your darn premiums, and you have to prove yourself? Best of luck.

Hi Karen, I submitted copies of cancelled checks, reciepts, certificates of merit for losing so many pounds and a written history of all my diets since I was nine years old.Some of the diet places and exercise programs are out of business now. I gave this "history" to my PCP and he wrote a letter and sent the office notes with my weight and blood pressure on them. You can get them from your OB/GYN or even the Chiropractor. If you have any pictures over the course of your life, most of them have dates and they can see what size you are, you can add your weight on the back. I had several newspaper advertisements where a local weight loss company used my before and after picture and my testimony for the ad. Scrounge up anything you can! I forgot to list the diet books! LOL my surgeons office was quite impressed with my documentation...I only had to prove that I had been morbidly obese for at least 5 years before seeking surgery and that I had been on a doctor supervised diet within the last 2 years. I ended up completing the a six month supervised diet before I got my surgery date and I just continued right up to surgery and lost 51 pounds. Good Luck! Alice