First Dr visit

I just finished my first visit with Dr Morales at SSM Weight Loss Institute and my BMI was 40.8. Now I have to wait for the patient advocate to call me to see if my records cover the rest of the insurance requirements. Fingers crossed!

Welcome and good luck.  Remember, they want you to have the surgery and will do whatever they can to get you through the process but it is never as quick as we would like for it to be.

Hello!  I also have Dr Morales and jut had my first visit last week!

Hey! That's awesome! I was told my next step is that my patient advocate is supposed to call me. I'm anxiously waiting. I've checked with my insurance and I think I don't have any other requirements to meet for them. I'm hoping I can get this done this year.

How did your visit go? What did you think of him?

Joy

My patient advocate is Angie.  I'm a bit frustrated bc I've sent her 2 emails that have gone unanswered.  I started this in June and I have about 30 days left of my 90 day diet I had to do per insurance requirements.  I will be done at the end of September and then they will submit to insurance.  I have Cigna.  I loved Dr. Morales.  I did all my appointments in 1 day, with the surgeon, nutritionist, and psych.  My BMI is 39 and I have sleep apnea.  I should be having my surgery in October if all goes well!

I've only met him but haven't done the rest yet. I'm glad I'm not the only one frustrated with the my patient advocate. I submitted my packet on Aug 8th and received an email that Julie would be calling. I went to the seminar on the 13th and Julie was there. I spoke to her for a minute and she said she would be in touch. A week later I hadn't heard anything so I called the office and they made an appointment for me to meet the Dr to answer my questions. That was the 25th. They said Julie would call me about next steps. I figure if she doesn't call me on Monday I will call the office again and see what is happening. 

We need to stay in touch cause I think we may go around the same time so we can be recovery buddies. :-) 

Take care!

Joy

Keep calling until you get an answer!  I think I'm going to need to start calling too.  What insurance do you have? Most insurance companies have a 6 month or 3 month supervised diet prior to surgery just fyi!

I have BCBS of Illinois. I've been in contact with them and have read the policy which says they no longer require the pre-approval supervised diet. That's why I'm anxious to speak to Julie because I want to be sure that is her understanding as well. 

That would be so great!  Best of luck to you!  Keep me informed!

Have you heard anything?