Sweetah

Congrats!!!

It really does vary by employer. I suggest you call the 800 number on the back of your card and give them the diagnosis code 278.01 (which is insurance code for morbid obesity), then give them the procedure code for vertical sleeve whic is 43775. If the person at the 800 number doesn't know what these codes are just ask them for the number to "the care team". These are the people that process surgery requests and they know all about these codes. If the person on the phone asks you why you need this number just tell them your having surgery in 5 days ( no harm in telling a itty bitty white lie lol). Once they verify if you are covered have them fax a copy of your coverage and requirements to your surgeon or PCP office. Hope this helps. Good Luck! PS. If your job doesnt cover the procedure go to your HR department and see if there is a process in order for the job to consider changing its insurance plan to include it.

I have UHC through my employer-Choice Plus. The requirements were that I had to have a BMI 35 or more, 5 years of documented morbid obesity and 1 or more co-moralities. The requirments vary depending on the employer. I didnt have to have all the other evaluations but my doctor suggested that I have them anyway. So I did 1 nutrition class, psych eval, pulm eval + sleep study, and of course PCP blood work and clearance. I lead a very busy life so I did an appointment a month so from Bariatric seminar to approval took bout 5 months. My surgeon submitted my file to UHC June 11th I found out I was approved via letter on June 23rd. My surgery date is July 19th. I am soooooooooooooooooooo excited. UHC has been surprisingly great and supportive. The agents seemed to be excited for me ( guess my excitement was contagious) and they were extremely helpful and patient ( I called every month just to make sure the requirments hadn't changed amist the political Healthcare debates of this year). I hope it goes just as smoothly for you. There will be times when you're discouraged and it will seem like the 'little opsticles' are non-stop...trust me I had plenty of them ( I was begining to think that it might be Mid next year before I got a date)....but stay strong :tongue2: its all worth it!