Question:
Why is it taking so long for approval with insurance companies?

I just had a general question on insurance. I have 3 different insurance carriers. one is through my first job another is through my second job and the last is Medi-cal which is state insurance. As I browse through profile I have notice with some of you it has taken at least if not 1 year to have surgery done because of the stupidity of an insurance company, do insurance not realize that they are saving money by treating a MO by giving the surgery because of the co-morbies? Do you think that they think we are all doing this because we want to be thin? I see my DR once a month and sometimes 2 times a month because of my blood pressure problems and I know that DR visits and hospital stays are not cheap. So why does it take an appeal to get healthy, so we the MO people can save the insurance companies less money by less trips to the DR office, hospital stays and medication. Am I venting or does this make prefect sense?    — Lovett (posted on March 15, 2002)

March 15, 2002
Tina, The fact is that insurance companies are in business to make money, not to take care of people. Preventive medicine is still a foreign concept to many companies. Besides, it costs them money to approve the surgery. There is no logic or reason to it, but that's the way it is.
   — garw

March 15, 2002
They are gambling that by the time you lose the weight and start to reap the benefits of good health, you'll have moved on to another insurance company. They are also gambling that you will have moved on before your co-morbidities start costing them more than the weight loss operation. How long would you have to stay with your present insurance company before they would recoup the cost of a $35,000 operation in your improved health (meaning fewer doctor visits, prescriptions, etc.)? Probably quite some time. Between changing jobs and employers changing benefits, most of us change insurers every couple of years. Insurance is supposed to be a way to spread risk out over many people so that no one individual has to face financial devastation because of an accident or health problems. It's become a way for some companies to make a ton of money at their policy holder's expense. Not good.
   — Susan B.

March 15, 2002
Susan's post illustrates mine exactly. It's the same reason they don't want to pay for other preventive procedures, things like mammograms, prostate cancer screenings, education and supplies for people with diabetes. What they fail to realize is that the very people that another insurance denied treatment for today will be their problem 3 years from now. It is not logical in any way, shape or form, but that's the way it is. Now, not all insurance is like that, but there are still way too many companies that are.
   — garw