Question:
Has anyone been given approval by CIGNA

I have CIGNA HealthPlan of CT. Has anyone had a problem getting approval. I do have Dabetes, High BP.    — [Anonymous] (posted on April 18, 2001)

April 18, 2001
I had heard good things about them in my area but for your state I don't know. I searched on this site under CT and found the following: Cigna (PPO) Approved after first letter (04/08/00) Open RNY Weeks to approval : 1 Pre-Op BMI : Comorbidities : Sleep apnea, arthritis, back, knees and ankle pains. Policy : Must be medically necessary Comments : Source: [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CIGNA (PPO) Approved after first letter (09/15/00) Laparoscopic RNY Weeks to approval : 1 Pre-Op BMI : 48.8 Comorbidities : arthritis Policy : Don't know Comments : Source: [email protected] -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- cigna Approved after 2nd appeal letter (10/17/00) Open VBG Weeks to approval : 10 Pre-Op BMI : 60.4 Comorbidities : morbib obisity Policy : Don't know Comments : alot of phone calls alot yes somewhat take time get letter of intent Source: [email protected]
   — Dawn R.

April 18, 2001
YES I HAVE CIGNA AND I FOUND THAT IF YOU DEAL WITH ONE PERSON OR TALK TO THE SAME PERSON EVERY TIME YOU CALL YOU WANT GET MIXED SIGNALS. I HAVE A LETTER I PERSONALLY WROTE TO THEM IF YOU WANT IT I CAN FAX IT TO YOU. IT HAS HELPED 4 MORE PEOPLE
   — Kimberly M.

April 19, 2001
I am very fed up with Cigna. I even told them to cancel my insurance. They said they never received paper work that BTC kept sending. They told us we could not fax it. Then the last person I talked to said we could of faxed it all along, it's like a zoo there. I finally blew up after 2 months and cancelled my insurance. In the mean time I now Have Benesight insurance and got approved within 7 days imagine that. But I have also heard some people don't have any problems with Cigna??????
   — Melissa R.

April 19, 2001
I too am completely fed up with Cigna POS. It seems that each Cigna medical director has differing veiws on wls. They had a reputation for being an excellent provider in approving this surgery. This seems to have changed. Keep after them. I am fighting a denial. I actually went thru about 15 years of check copies and visa statements to prove I had been on a medically supervised diets. I wrote each program up on a cover sheet and described the program and the results. I think by the time I was done, I had over 100 pages of stuff. It cost me $11 in copy charges at Kinkos, but it was well worth it, LOL! Since I have been disabled since June of 1999 with Meniere's Disease and MO plus degenerative arthritis, and I had my knees both totally replaced due to osteoarthritis in August of 2000, the Cigna came back and said, "no medically supervised diets in the last 12 months". Can you believe that....15 years worth of documentation, showing thousands of dollars on programs, etc ( I also listed every diet book I bought, tapes, excercise videos, ymca and health club fees, self hypnosis tapes, etc etc.). I was appalled at this. My PCP gave me a script for Merida...he says if they want to play games, we will too. Good luck.
   — rocketmom1985

April 22, 2001
I have Cigna insurance and was approved after about a month of waiting. I called them all the time, really pestered them and finally got my approval via telephone, followed by the letter. Really keep on them, and your surgeons office, and everything should work out ok. My surgery date is May 4, don't get discouraged!
   — Kelly A.

July 1, 2002
I noticed your question about Cigna approval. I am currently going through an appeal process with Cigna Heathcare of N.C. (POS). I have been told I must list supervised diets also like everyone else is saying. I plan on contacting my insurance commissioner about this. I have heard through my surgeon's office the same exact ins. company approved someone that only was 3 yrs. over-weight and not hardly any co-morbidities. This upsets me!!!
   — Nicole H.