Like I tell anyone asking about insurance, you need to read your benefit book description to see if WLS is a covered benefit that your employer has chosen. Not all policies with the same insurance company cover WLS. And some have stricter guidelines to meet and may also limit how much they pay for anything related to the WLS and/or subsequent surgeries due to complications. Most will require doctors records of recorded weights for the last five years. Most require a pscyh eval for approval. Not all require a documented doctor sponsored weight loss attempt. Since I have reviewed gastric bypass requests, believe me, not all documentation is anywhere near complete. This can cause delays with approval. I had got hung up on the doctor sponsored weight loss with mine. I had done 3 in my life, but none in the previous 2 years. So I had to do another one. It wa 1 year from starting the process till I had my surgery. But it was all worth the effort and don't regret it for a minute. If you haven't gone to any doctor, see if you have photos that are dated showing your size. This may help. I approved a man once that didnt' have insurance and didnt go to the doctor, but had photos of the last 10 years, that had date stamps on them. It was so obvious he had a BMI of over 40, and I thought it was quite creative, that I approved it. He had met all the other criteria. Also, for co-morbids, some insurance companies want to see that you have also had those problems and where treated for them in the last 4 of 5 years as well. These include diabetes, hypertension, and sleep apnea that is being treated with cpap or bipap. GERD, depression, joint pain, osteoarthritis, back pain, dypsnea on extertion don't count. If you are hypothyroid, it won't count you out, but you have to be treated and have an TSH level in normal range. Hope this helps. Sue
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