Question:
HOW LONG SHOULD I WAIT AFTER MY CONSULTATION TO START HARRASSING MY INSURANCE COMPANY

OR SURGEONS OFFICE TO SEE WHAT WE FIND OUT FROM INSURANCE?    — CINDY D. (posted on April 28, 2003)

April 28, 2003
I think it would be a good idea to start calling your surgeon's office to make sure they have sent in all the necessary information from all your clearance appointments before you call the insurance company. I did call my insurance to see if it is a covered benefit and they told me yes, but had to be approved first. I started calling my surgeon's office one week after my appt with the psych counsellor. They told me they would wait until all the info was in from my other doctors before they would send the info. I finally just nicely asked them to fax it anyway and they did... guess what? My insurance approved me within 24 hours with the preliminary letter ALONE! It never hurts to "nicely" stay on top of things. Afterwards, I sent my surgeon's office a thank you card for their patience with me and being so helpful. Hope this helps.
   — Happy I.

April 28, 2003
Well Dr. Christopher did my surgery on Nov. 4th.. I know his office will get your paper work out. I do know that his office waits for a week and send out in bulk to the different ins companies.. I started harrassing my ins company like 3 weeks after I found out that Dr. Christopher's office sent in my paper work.. Hope this helps...Good Luck.
   — Kim *.

April 28, 2003
I didn't harrass my surgeon or insurance carrier at all. I wanted to be approved, not piss them off. The people in the surgeon's office know what they're doing, this is what they do all day. They're professionals. Walk and wait. Wait and walk. wait wait wait (but not necessarily patiently!) lol Everything will be alright. My surgeon's folks don't apply for approval until IMMEDIATELY (5 days) before surgery. Good luck!
   — msmaryk

April 28, 2003
Hi, I too was ondering how much is too much and when etc... The most important thing I learned in this whole process is that none's advice is going to exactly fit your situation. Everyplace is different. The only advice I have to offer is probably wait about two weeks and than call your insurance company to find out if any information has been received. Also find out if it was mailed or faxed. If the insurance company doesn't have any record of anything being received, get the insurance company's fax number. Call your surgeon's office and ask if your predetermination letter has been sent and give the insurance company's fax number and tell the surgeon's office that the Insurance company would like a fax. I found out after calling the surgeon's office that the Baratric Center had left some info off my forms and delayed the surgeon doing my letter. Once they got that straightened out, out went the letter! The whole process from consultation date (3/24) to approval (4/28) took about a month! I just hope it doesn't take too long to get a date!
   — kathleen-Joan piper

April 28, 2003
I would suggest calling one week after your surgeon says they mailed in your info. Just call the ins co and tell them you want to verify they received your info. The insurance rep will be able to tell you the date they received the request for WLS. I called back once a week and each time the reps were happy to tell me if a decision had been made or not. Really, if you're nice about it, they will be too. Good luck to you!
   — Kimberly S.

April 29, 2003
Hi Cindy, I called my insurance company about 3 days after my surgeon's secretary sent in all of my paper work. So that is really up to you. My insurance company appreciated the fact that I called because they were glad to know from me on how I felt about having this kind of surgery and how this was going to benefit my life. They were really nice, and even sent my a letter after i had the surgery to see how everything went and how I was feeling. It took only a week to get approved for the surgery, since I was on the ball and called them to see if they needed any extra info for me to send them directly. But, every insurance company of course is different. I had Firstguard healthplan. I would advise you to call though, What would hurt? Good luck to you!
   — Melodee S.