Plastic Surgery Consult ...

Evening Everyone .. I have some questions .. and it feels so good to be on the board .. I had to put that in there too .. Any hoo ... Next week I go for my first Plastics Consult . I have BCBS of Virginia . I am curious to know how many of you that have had PS - did you have insurance ? And if so .. how hard .. easy was it to get the surgery done . My NP told me that my tummy was not bad at all .. and she did not think that I would get approved . However , I have severe scar tissue from previous surgeries .. she thinks these things would help me get approved . I really need breast reconstruction , a new butt .. however, will be happy to have my excess skin gone .. and my belly button back . I am really scared .. but anxious to get this done . My soon to be X husband carries the insurance on me for now .. and this would be my Divorce present to myself .. Thanks and I hope to hear from you . Natalie A Grad At Last .. 135 and Holding on Tight !

I was approved, and I just got my approval letter on Saturday! I am excited. My tummy is horrible, and I am a bit anxious about the surgery, but I am going to wait until the end of next May to have my surgery. I want to lose about 27 more pounds, and I want to have my surgery during the summer months so that I will have plenty of time to recover. I wish you the best! Let me know how it goes! I hope all your WLS dreams come true! Hugs and happiness, Tammy

Tammy, Great news about your approval. However, I don't know about your insurance, but mine requires that the surgery be within 3 months of the approval or you have to go through the approval process again. Did your approval include a date?

Irish. Good luck with your consult. I have Humana Insurance and also work for the company. I had my first PS consult in January this year and my Pre Auth for the TT and hernia repair was approved by Humana within a week. They didn't drag thier feet at all. My PS submitted medical records with pictures. I think that's why it was approved so fast. And my surgery was scheduled by April. That's the soonest the Dr could get me in. My approval went smoothly. My insurance has been paying for plastics with so many people undergoing gastric bypass.

Hi Natalie I had to fight tooth and nail for my approvals even though I had an amazing amount of excess skin that I was left with after losing 225 lbs (see photos in my picturetrail at http://picturetrail.com/carolineam - password is ps ). After 6 months of appeals, my TT and breast lift were covered by Blue Shield of CA. I paid out of pocket for extended brachioplasty, breast implants (done to give me a normal shape and not done for size), and to turn the TT into a belt lipectomy/LBL. (cost was 12K total). I switched insurance companies in February and had no problem with approval for my circumferential thigh lift and buttock lift. Hope this helps, Caroline http://abutterflyemerges.com