For Insurance - when do they weigh you?

Hi All,

I finally have my first appointment with the surgeon's office for next week on 8/25. (I'm working with Dr. Morales at SSM DePaul in St Louis.) The first step for this whole thing was to submit a patient packet which I did on 8/5, and then next was to attend the seminar on 8/13. I hadn't heard back from the office by this morning so I called and spoke with my patient advocate. I was a little concerned because she more or less said that if my weight dropped below 40 BMI that I wouldn't qualify (for BCBSIL insurance) since I don't have diabetes or high BP. I have a host of other issues, but evidently my insurance doesn't care about those.

So back to my question. When do they weigh you for the Insurance company? I've seen others say here that it's the first appointment. 

Here's my problem. I'm about 5'2.5" tall but have always rounded up to say I'm 5'3". I probably shouldn't have done that on my patient packet I guess. My weight today is 225.6 lbs which means my BMI today is 40.50 or 39.86 depending which height I put in there.

So for BMI calculations, it really matters if I use the 5' 2.5" height or the 5'3" height. And if they measure me in shoes, well then I'm more like 5'4".... 

I'm totally stressing myself out thinking I need to gain 5 lbs before next week to be sure I'm covered but I don't want to stress eat for the next 9 days.

They used my first weigh in.  Dress heavy and slouch....LOL.  

I had to loose at least 1 pound per month for 6 months (plus I wasn't allowed to gain) but they still used my first weigh in when they submitted my papers. 

Every insurance is different. I had BCBS of PA. I didn't have any major health problems but I had a history of being on meds for acid reflux plus my legs ached all of the time.  I also had to prove I had tried to loose weight over the years.  That was easy because I had attended WW over and over again.

Thanks Roz. I can prove I've tried other things. I have many records on that. I was thinking of putting weights in my bra or something. LOL

Some people have actually posted that they put things in their bra...  I'm glad you  had years of WW books that you keep your weight in so I was covered too.  Your DRs office should know what the Insurance requires.  You can also just call them yourself.  The poster below said they didn't have to lose anything.  I HAD to go on a 6 month 1200 calorie diet, I HAD to get weighed 1 month apart, and I WASN'T allowed to gain on any of my weigh-ins. I think they wanted to see if I could stick to a routine.

FYI - I had to go on the medically supervised plan with a nutritionist for 3 months, but the insurance company is not allowed to mandate you lose weight on the plan, only that you try one.

Dress heavy and slouch is correct. You'll be weighed on your first visit, and you don't have to lose weight. I gained 7 lbs over 3 months because I knew my insurance would reject the procedure if I lost anything.

If the nurse measures you, correct her down an inch. She knows the drill and won't argue.