**6 months Supervised Diet**

Im new to all of this. My insurance  BCBS of Michigan requires a 6 month supervised diet. My BMI is only a 43, so I can only loose about 12 pounds in the next 6 months in order to still fall under my ins. requirements to qualify for surgery. My question is did anyone not loose weight during this period and get approved. My surgeons office said to just try loose a little and try not to gain. I'm stressing over this. My first PCP appt is next week. Thank you!

Just do not gain during that time, and lose weight if you can , it helps shrink your liver

as It helps with surgery and the insurance company only goes by your initial weight, now that you are on a plan followed by a nutritionist, you are doing what is being asked of you to prepare for surgery and insurance will not be affected if your BMI drops... I just learned this myself tonight at a support group meeting... 

Good luck! 

Oh my, 6 months? My insurance required a 3 month supervised diet... My last appointment is on the 19th... I missed an appointment and had to start over, but I am almost done! They told me I did NOT have to lose weight, just not to gain.. I've fortunately lost 9lbs though and like mentioned above, this will drop your BMI but will not affect the requirements for surgery because the weight they submit to your insurance is your weight at the time of your consult. I have to stress to you, DO NOT miss any appointments, mine was 3 months, but yours is 6 and it has to be consecutive or they will be voided and you will have to restart. Good luck on your journey!! 

1. Hi, I am really looking into getting the surgery but I don't want to do the 6 month supervised diet I'd rather do the 3 months. If you don't mind me asking which insurance and policy did you choose to have only 3months? Right now I have BCBS anthem and they require a 6 month supervised diet.

I have to do 6 months as well. Did you go along with it and how are you doing? I'm 2 months into my 6 and can't wait until this part of the process is over.

My BMI was 40 and I was told not to lose any weight during the six month diet.  It was not a problem for me because I could not lose by dieting anyway.  There is no guarantee that insurance will not deny you if you no longer meet requirements after six months. 

I did not lose any weight on the pre-op diet and did get approved.

Thank you! This has helped me a lot! 

I'm in almost the exact same boat as you, my BMI is only 42.5 and I also have BCBS but of Pennsylvania. To keep my BMI over 40 I've been eating a bit better but trying to to lose much of any weight because I was worried that if I got my BMI under 40 during the diet phase that insurance would deny me. I have my next appt on Feb 15, my last appt will be on/around June 15. As long as insurance doesn't take over 30 days for approval I'll hopefully be having surgery in July. 

Awesome! My last month is end of August. Keep me updated on how your doing. I think it would be nice to have someone who's going through it the same time I am. Good Luck to You!

My BMI was 44 at the start of my six months and I was also told to not go below 40.  During those six months I did eat better and exercise a little more, but I didn't lose that much weight and tried to maintain.  My BMI at the time of surgery was 42.