How long ??

[sylvia42 43]

I have my first appointment next week for a lap band. Does anyone know how long it takes for insurance and what they expect from the patient to get approved??

[DELETE THIS ACCOUNT! 12,703]

It all depends on your insurance requirements and how fast your surgeon's office works. I had my surgery in 3 weeks but I've know many others for whom it's taken 6-12 months.

[sylvia42 43]

Thanks u

[dee257 1,516]

For me I had to do the 6 month eating right and showing I was committed to this...also had to attend 6 local support group meetings..

When I was in my 5th month my nutritionist started the paper work for insurance and when it was summited only took 3 days to get approval..

Good Luck...with your journey !!!

[Toddy 758]

Be prepared for a possible long wait. A lot of insurance companies require a six month supervised diet before approval. I was lucky and had my Weight Watchers card showing well over six months. My first appt was in November and I could have had my surgery in December, but I put it off due to a cruise we had scheduled in early January.

[lisacaron 5,075]

Many doctors today will send you for some testing, and scheduling those tests could put a bit of a time delay on scheduling surgery.

My advice is to call your insurance company and ask them what their requirements are to be approved for lapband surgery.

Then when you pick your surgeon, ask him what if any testing he requires and how long he thinks it might take to get on the schedule for surgery.

That way you should have a rough idea of how long it might take once you start the journey.

Best of luck to you!

[PrettyThick1 1,860]

My insurance approved me in 3 days, I was not required to do a 6 month supervised plan because I had tried a number of other diet plans before: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Phentermine, Atkins and Quick Weight Loss.

[Sojourner 2,446]

This question is basically impossible to answer with ny accuracy, but it does get asked frequently. There are so many variations between insurance policies that for accurate information, it would be best to contact a representative with your insurance plan and get acurate information.

The process does vary widely.

Good luck with moving forward...

[sylvia42 43]

Thanks so much for all your advise , I just called my insurance to see what I needed and they gave me all the information,. I'm really new at this stuff so hopefully it will work out,. I'm really going to us this sure use support.yall are great people and it gives me hope..