Question:
Has any one been approved if they did not have a 6month supvised diet ?

Especially looking for people who have no real seriouse comorbidies. I have asthma and a family history of cardiac problems.    — sheri B. (posted on June 6, 2002)

June 5, 2002
I had no real serious co-morbities... they said I had diabetes, but it was VERY mild... I didn't even get prescribed any medication for it until well after I got approved for the surgery. Also, I had never been on a doctor prescribed diet, unless a doctor telling me to "watch my sugar intake" counts as a doctor's diet. I was actually kinda shocked when I heard someone say that they didn't think they'd get accepted because they'd never had a doc's diet...
   — Fallon D.

June 5, 2002
There are no hard and fast rules here. Doctors differ and Insurance companies differ. Mine didn't require all that stuff.
   — Cathy J.

June 5, 2002
Have to echo the previous poster. The only way to know for sure what you need to meet insurance and/or doctor's requirements is to ask. Each insurance company is different and the same insurance company can have different requirements for different employers and in different states.
   — garw

June 6, 2002
i had no co-morbs, except for shin splints and knee pain, but AETNA was great. I had a letter from my doc saying he thought this was the best for me, but never had a medically supervised diet, really just had a list of 15 or so diets (WW, LA weight loss, ATKINS) that had failed. i was approved after first letter. I am also 22, so i was scared b/c i didn't think they would've thought i had "tried it all" but they did! PCP letter of support is great if you can get it. goodluck.
   — Lezlie Y.

June 6, 2002
I have no co-morbid's, i have no supervised diets,I am young and a little over 100lbs overweight. I listed all the diets i have done myself and wrote a letter stating why I want the surgery, difficulties I have now, and why the surgery would help me for the future. I have Humana INsurance and they approved it.
   — Sunny4x4chick

June 6, 2002
I am 55 years old, have arthritis in my knees but no other co-morbidities. The surgeon I originally went to wanted a 5 year diet history and a lot of oother information because he said all insurance companies require it. He waited so long to submit my paperwork (claiming to be writing the perfect letter) that I finally changed doctors because my insurance was changing in about a month and a half. To make a long story short, all my insurance company needed was my weight, height, blood pressure and BMI. I had my approval within 48 hours. That was a little over 7 months ago, my surgery a little over six months ago and I am 116+ pounds lighter. So - it really depends on the insurance company and what their requirements are.
   — Patty_Butler