I work for A&T and have Unitedhealthcare, although I don't work in California, I work on the East Coast, and it covers weightloss surgery here. I just had lapband surgery done in April and there are alot of people in my call center that have had the procedure done. As a matter of fact, Unitedhealthcare is one of the quickest and easiet to get approval with, at least here...maybe your friend should double check with them...