Question:
ANYONE APPROVED AFTER AN APPEAL WITH UHC PPO WRITTEN EXCLUSION

   — PATRICE T. (posted on August 9, 2003)

August 9, 2003
Patrice...I hate to tell you but UHC is not to easy to change their mind. None of our patients that I'm aware of have gotten them to overturn their decsion based on the fact that it is a written exsclusion. What I would do is take it up with your employer. Ask them if they were aware that your insurance does not cover WLS. If they were, ask them why they choose this plan. Some plans thru UHC do cover WLS. If they weren't, ask them to consider at the next open enrollment to possibly look into other insurances that do cover WLS. Some employers are WLS "friendly" others are not. If it becomes an issue where there is a growing number of employee's looking to have WLS, they may look into it. Good luck!
   — Ashley S.

August 9, 2003
Patrice, I don't know if my experience will help you at all, but I had the most difficult time with UHC. And I don't mean just because of my exclusion. Many of the "customer service" associates were quite rude and I couldn't get a consistent answer to save my life. Rather than give myself an ulcer, I opted to switch insurance companies, now I'm just playing the waiting game. Good luck to you. The best advice I can give is to ask for a superviser and get a dialogue going with someone a bit higher up. I started to get the answers I needed when I did that.
   — SweetDragonfly