Question:
How many days or weeks does it take before you find out you are denied?

I have been waiting almost 3 weeks to find out if I am going to be approved for WLS. I was wondering how long they stall before letting someone know they have been denied.    — shellkov (posted on October 30, 2004)

October 30, 2004
Depends on doctor, insurance and your paperwork submitted. My paperwork was submitted in January 2002. I got my first denial in early April 2002. I submitted paperwork for the denial cause and got my approval in late May 2002. I had my surgery in August 2002. At the time I had Cigna EPP for insurance.
   — Cathy S.

October 30, 2004
What makes you so certain you will be denied ?? I have medicare and tricare Standard, I was only 83 pounds overweight............I was not denied, but it took about a month before I was told that I was going to have the surgery. Good luck and think Positive.
   — cindirella

October 30, 2004
It's not that I think that I will be denied exactly, I just wish that if that's what they are going to do, let's go ahead and do it. Let me get the appeal process rolling! I have heard from many people that waiting for approval is the hardest part of this process. So far I think I have to agree. Actually, I have a surgery date for less than 2 weeks away. It would be nice to think that I will be able to keep that date. I am keeping my fingers crossed. I called the insurance company the other day, and she told me that it was still pending, although it looks like they will approve it because there is something about some discharge info in my file. But she can not be sure. This has been the longest 3 weeks of my life.
   — shellkov

October 31, 2004
It just depends on your insurance company. My wls was approved in one week. Hopely they have all the necessary paperwork and won't take much longer. Good luck...Theresa Ervin
   — TAErvin

October 31, 2004
As we all know every imsurance company is different. I was approved in a day. If I were waiting more than a week,I would be proactive and call the insurance company each week to find out the status and make sure you have not gone through the cracks or they are just sitting on it. I worked at Blue Cross in the department that handled approvals, and honestly sometimes the packets are not acted on quickly because there are so many waiting to be reviewed. So the squeaky wheel gets heard!
   — [Deactivated Member]