Shamrockgal

I have a "case worker" with them. She told me "We DO approve these, all the time, you just have to do the papework and document the diet/doctors visits.":thumbup:

Good luck "gone fishin" I used to live right around the corner from there, I hear they are good folks! (Virginia Mason)

Hi everyone! I am a 30 year old female living in Seattle, looking to get banded closer to summertime 2009. I've been thinking about weight loss surgery for probably 5+ years, and now that I finally have health insurance that covers it I'm actively WORKING towards the lap-band procedure. A year ago I went to a seminar and learned quite a bit, enough to realize that I'm more of a lapband candidate than a gastric bypass candidate. That seminar was a year ago and I've had a last good "go-round" with food, topping the scales at 323 last month! I have had the discussion with my primary case physician and she is absolutely wonderful about this idea. She is happy with me doing this and has pointed me in the right direction. According to my insurance rules I need 6 months of a documented, medically supervised weight loss "diet." In my case this means simply once a month at the Doc and one a month Weight Watchers. I think the worse part is dreading hauling my big butt to WW! Once this six month period is over with I plan on moving forward with Dr. McMahon at Swedish here in Seattle. I've read lots of good things on him and even noticed another person on this board reccomending him. If anyone has any "insider information" on navigating Cigna let me know, I must say though that I was very encouraged when I spoke with them. 11/08 - 323 Pounds Goal - 180 Pounds

Do yourself a favor and get your insurance company to send you a copy of the documentation that spells out what their requirements are. I have been looking into this surgery for a while and while my insurance was Great West they sent me a copy of their requirements, when Cigna bough them out I called and got the same from them. I called customer service, gave them the corresponding insurance codes and they assigned me a caseworker (which is a RN). This person will be the person that will send this information out. As far as the 6 month requirement goes, my understanding (from speaking with that RN) is that, in basic terms, I need a monthly doctors visit and a monthly weight watchers meeting. My Doc is super cool and knows that I just need to come in "Because" and is very helpful. They don't actually expect you to drop 100 pounds in 6 months. They just want to see how committed you are. I went over the requirements with the RN very thoroughly and she told me "We DO approve these - ALL the time, you just have to do the 6 months of paperwork." This was very reassuring to me. I've got my 6 months worth of Doctors visits booked. Just need to force myself to a Weight Watchers meeting. I plan on going, registering, getting weighed and leaving. Screw sitting through that meeting!!:eek: