BCBS of MI - ThinnerTimes - Gastric Bypass Forum, Lap Band Forum, and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy Forum

Aomiel · 10-09-2009, 07:03 AM

Unless your employer has put an exclusion for any weight related treatment on their BCBS of MI policy, BCBS of MI is now paying for bariatric treatment/surgery. They told me that if you have a BMI of 40, they don't even care whether you have any co-morbidities (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure, etc.). If your BMI is under 40, then you must have at least one co-morbidity.

I went to my seminar about 2-1/2 weeks ago and had my first doctor's appointment. My psych eval was done a week later and she had it on their desk within an hour. Now I'm just waiting for the blood work and, as long as there are no negative indicators, they'll set my surgery date for possibly within the next week or two if I can fit it into my schedule.

BCBS of MI no longer requires a 6 month supervised weight loss prior to acceptance, nor a several week liquid fast prior to surgery.

Apparently they've decided that $20k is cheaper than 40 or 50 years of obesity related medical problems.

Josephine · 10-09-2009, 07:23 AM

WOW!!! That's going REALLY fast for you!!! I hope you've had time to read a bunch of information here and soak it all up! I couldn't imagine 4-5 weeks from start to finish. My wait was 16 months so I was POSITIVE what I wanted by the end of it lol

jennuwine23 · 10-09-2009, 07:33 AM

is the same way! once you get what you need to get done they send it in for approval and i had an approval within a week. I was started end of Jan and was approved by mid march...i put my surgery off till June though as the day they wanted to schedule in april was the day i was in a wedding and in may i was going out of town for a week for training so June it was! Best of luck to you

Aomiel · 10-09-2009, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josephine

WOW!!! That's going REALLY fast for you!!! I hope you've had time to read a bunch of information here and soak it all up! I couldn't imagine 4-5 weeks from start to finish. My wait was 16 months so I was POSITIVE what I wanted by the end of it lol

I've been researching this for 14 years. I wanted the Lap Band but they didn't do it in the U.S. until 2001 (I think) and it wasn't until this year that BCBS started paying for it without jumping through all kinds of idiotic hoops. So this isn't fast.

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Josephine · 10-09-2009, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aomiel

I've been researching this for 14 years. I wanted the Lap Band but they didn't do it in the U.S. until 2001 (I think) and it wasn't until this year that BCBS started paying for it without jumping through all kinds of idiotic hoops. So this isn't fast.

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Then you are so ready

Glad to have you with us! Can wait til you join me on the losers bench

laurajh · 10-13-2009, 07:45 AM

Dammit I was about to get up from my desk and do a happy dance right here in front of everyone I work with until I realized that MI isn't the abbreviation for Minnesota.

Aomiel · 10-13-2009, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by laurajh

Dammit I was about to get up from my desk and do a happy dance right here in front of everyone I work with until I realized that MI isn't the abbreviation for Minnesota.

That's ok...I've been doing the happy dance for 3 weeks because they told me my insurance would pay for this. They told me again that it would on Monday when I called to see how we were progressing. Then at 5 p.m. last night I get a call to tell me that they'll know in 1-2 days about scheduling me after they find out about my benefits. Huh? Seems this whole time they've been talking about BCBS of MI 'in general', but hadn't yet checked to see if *my* policy covered (or excluded) WLS.

So now I'm sitting on pins and needles, waiting for my rep to call me back and let me know (since I'm too impatient to wait for the clinic to get back to me). For what we pay out of our pocket to keep BCBS over the HMO, it darn well better pay.

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LisaJo · 10-13-2009, 10:04 AM

Hi! I have Blue Cross of MI also. I called them and asked them straight up if they covered WLS and what the specifics were. The lady I talked to was very helpful, informative and even sounded a bit like a cheerleader LOL.
Best of Luck! Im from a small area and had to drive over a hundred miles to my Bariatric Surgeon so I was back and forth getting all my appts in. My initial consult was in November my surgery was in April after all was said and done. But that wasnt due to BCBS it was just all the preop education, testing and what not. I was not required to do a diet but did lose 20lbs for the sake of the liver shrinkage

Will keep my fingers crossed for you! Im 6 months out now and feel fabulous!