Just got my insurance approval! About a week.

I see people ask this question alot, so I'm reporting in!  My last surgeon's visit was on Oct. 26, a Friday.  Then most business, etc., here were closed on the 29-30.   I expect it was submitted on the 26th --- so basically 5 business days (or less -- if the insurance offices were closed too).

I have Federal BCBS, and also, my doctor's office is compulsive about making sure every single solitary thing is in the file before they submit, so that helps too!

Wonderful!! Submitted mine today for VSG. Doc refused to do BY Pass and Lap Band.

We are still awaiting approval of my surgery by my husband's federal BC/BS plan.  My surgery is scheduled for 11/21/12, so I wish this part of it was resolved!  I finished my last insurer-required nutrition visit on 10/19/12, so I really don't know what's taking so long. 

You can always call your insurance company and see what's up.  BCBS is not one big giant company, it's made up of local licensees. 

So for me, being in a big city where there are lots of hospitals - the docs have a lot of experience in getting the submission right, and the local office has a lot of experience in reviewing them -- there are several BCBS Centers of Excellence in Bariatric Surgery here, so it's not an unusual request.

Maybe just call the number on your card and see if they can give you a status besides pending -- or call you doc's office, and see if they have any idea.  My surgeon sets up the surgery date before the approval as well -- so it's unlikely that your surgeon would have scheduled you, etc., if he wasn't pretty sure you'd get approved!

Best of luck! 

I didn't know until the weekend before my surgery! Talk about nerve racking!! I didn't want to suffer thru 3 days of liquids for nothing so I called my surgeon's office and they informed me that it was approved!! So don't be afraid to give em a call;-)

yeah!!!!

Yay! Congrats!

Thanks for posting this. I have my pre op appointment tomorrow and we are submitting them. I'm scheduled for a week from tomorrow- the 14th and I've asked the surgeons office several times if one week will be enough time for approval and they were optimistic it would, but said 'If anything we can push surgery back a week' um NO I don't want that to be an option, I've waited long enough! Talk about nerve wrecking! Fingers crossed for me guys! I have every imaginable body part crossed! lol