Question:
Has anyone not heard from insurance until just before surgery?

I am scheduled for surgery next week, and have yet to hear from insurance. Has anyone else had this happen, and what was the outcome? Thanks    — Sarah P. (posted on April 4, 2002)

April 4, 2002
Did you get a verbal approval (over the phone or did your surgeon's office say they had one)? I never heard anything from my insurance company. Never got a letter or anything. I only knew I was approved when I called the hospital to find out if they'd heard anything. Good luck and God Bless!
   — Kimberly L.

April 4, 2002
I didn't get approval until 11:00am the day before my surgery. My Surgeon called me as soon as the insurance company faxed over my pre-certification. It didn't give me much time to prepare but I made it to the hospital less than 24 hours after I got approval! Good luck!
   — Chloe S.

April 4, 2002
Call your insurance company right away!!!! I am a nurse at an insurance company and do procedure approvals- once the insurance gets the paperwork it only takes a few days, often just a few hours. Many times doctors tell you that they are waiting to hear and they never even submitted the paperwork! They don't want to look bad so they blame the insurance company.
   — Melissa B.

April 4, 2002
I am in contact with my insurance company (or what I like to call, the evil spawn-company of satan) pretty much daily. They recieved my paperwork probably 3-4 weeks ago. Last week they requested a psych eval...I submitted that, then they said they needed a psych eval and a nutritionist eval. I hadn't had a nutritionist eval, so I called them back asking for the name of a nutritionist in my plan, and they said I didn't need a nutritionist eval, but rather a diet history (which obviously was submitted with the original information). So I called again, and it was back to the nutritionist eval. Round and round we went. FINALLY today I spoke with a coherant person (didn't know they hired these types of people - intelligent ones), and she informed me what I needed, and I was able to e-mail it to her this afternoon, and have my doctor fax over the thing they needed from him also. This was all very good, except that approx. 2 min later, my doctors office called and said they needed to give my spot away becuase we still had no approval for surgery. So, when I call tomorrow, hopefully I will be able to find out if I am approved or not, and if I am, then I can have surgery next Saturday, rather than Wednesday. It's been a frustrating time with the spawn-company, but, that which does not kill me, may turn me into a legislator against all insurance companies!!!! Sorry for the drama, and thanks for the responces. If anyone else has anything to add or say..please, feel free!
   — Sarah P.

April 6, 2002
Funny you ask this. My approval was down to the WIRE - it came on Monday afternooon and my surgery was Thursday. It's too long a story to go into, but let's just say I practically got an ulcer the week before! Luckily, my wonderful nurse/case worker know how anxious I was to know, so she called me within FOUR HOURS of getting the last bit of evaluation they needed. I am now two days post-op and doing well. All I can say is hang in there...I know it's hard cause I was just where you are a week ago. Good luck!
   — rebeccamayhew