Finances and Insurance
Due to the increasing popularity and demand for Bariatric Surgery, most insurance companies look for any reason to deny coverage. In fact, some policies will specifically exclude Bariatric Surgery from their plan. In order to navigate through the system it is extremely important to understand what you are asking for and where to find it. It has been our experience that patients that call their insurance companies themselves are often given wrong information and sometimes even multiple different answers to the same question. For this reason, Sandra Bryant, our insurance specialist will take care of this for you.
Almost all insurance companies will want documentation of previous weight loss attempts whether it is from your doctor’s office or through a supervised program like Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig. Call your doctor’s office and obtain your medical records that have your weight documented. Obtain records from any specialist you may have seen such as your gynecologist, or orthopedic surgeon. Some insurance companies require 6 months of a medically supervised weight loss program prior to your surgery, so documentation is essential. Interestingly enough, there is no evidence in the literature that preoperative medically supervised diets have any beneficial impact on the success of your surgery. The insurance company, however; is counting on you getting frustrated and giving up. Don’t let them be right. The more information you have, the better.
The approval process can be long, tedious and complicated. Keep in mind, that every carrier has multiple different plans with different benefits and exclusions. In order to verify what specific plan you have, you must contact the office.
There are certain things you can do to help the process. If you are at all contemplating surgery begin to visit your doctor once a month and get started on a medically supervised diet plan. Once you have decided on surgery, schedule your appointment with the surgeon and let our insurance specialist verify your benefits. Keep in mind there is no charge for the initial consultation, so you have nothing to lose. If you don’t have insurance or have an exclusion, there are many different options for payment including financing plans.
Remember that this surgery can be lifesaving! Whatever work you may have to do now will more than be worth it in the long run.