Question:
Could someone plese tell me the difference between pre-aproved and approved

My insurance says that I will be pre-approved in 3-5 days....I'm not een sure what that means! Thanks for any help!    — Lezli M. (posted on June 27, 2002)

June 27, 2002
Pre-approved means that you are approved before the services were rendered. Approved means it was approved after the service were rendered.
   — Patty H.

June 27, 2002
My insurance is a little different than the last poster. For me preapproval meant-yes we cover this type of thing with medical necessity-. Approved meant-you have met our criteria for medical necessity, call your surgeon for a date. My surgeons office found out if it was a covered benefit before they would do any paper work or anything. You could call your ins and ask them to explain their version of preapproved and approved.
   — cherokey55

June 27, 2002
I too have UHC and first you must be pre-appr0ved and that means your policy covers the WLS and that you qualify for it. It is actually called pre-determination. They then contact your Dr office requesting a date, thus completing the approval :)
   — Stephanie B.