Bariatric Surgery Insurance
The Bariatric Experts™ accept most major insurance carriers. Bariatric surgery insurance coverage varies by company and policy and involves different requirements. You should contact your insurance carrier to learn whether bariatric surgery is a covered benefit and what your specific policy requirements might be. If you aren’t sure what kind of bariatric coverage your insurance offers, we can help—simply fill out our free insurance check form.
Although some health insurance plans do offer coverage for bariatric surgery, they often impose strict requirements such as a lengthy supervised diet plan or medical history that can create an extended wait before surgery. Some patients with insurance choose to go the cash pay route because they feel it puts them in better control of their health. Please see our cash pay information as we recognize that many insurance plans do not offer adequate coverage.
Preparing for Approval
Most insurance companies will ask for in-depth, comprehensive documentation relating to your previous weight loss attempts. We advise you to gather the following information:
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medical documentation of a five-year weight history
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any actual documentation of diet drugs and medically supervised diets prescribed
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records of commercial diet programs you have tried (Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, etc.)
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records of any exercise programs you have tried (YMCA/YWCA, gym membership, etc.).
You will need to begin gathering these records now so they are readily available when we initiate communication with your insurance company for your bariatric surgery. It is not enough for you to simply list these items – the insurance company will require official documentation.
You will need to contact the doctor who weighed you and/or prescribed weight loss drugs for a copy of that documentation. A summary letter of dates, weights, prescribed medications and supervised diets from that doctor is acceptable. You may need to contact commercial diet program offices and exercise facilities for records if you do not have these.
Getting Approval
Once we have everything together, we will submit your case to the insurance company. Timeline looks different for each carrier and we have to give insurance a minimum of 15 days to get back to us with an answer. We will contact you as soon as we have heard from your carrier. In addition, you may contact your insurance company to check on the status of your insurance approval.
If you still have any questions regarding bariatric surgery insurance coverage, give us a call at 940-577-2090 to speak with our financial specialist.
