Attorneys for Appeals

[Busy 0]

I am currently appealing my denial through Kelly and Walter Lindstrom. From what Kelly told me, the makers of the lap-band (Inamed?) believed in their product enough to "fund" (for lack of a better word) people who qualified for the procedure by paying for the legal fees. I was originally denied by Humana because of lack of a 6 month diet. After completing the diet I was denied because I had not appealed within a 30 day time period. Each time Kelly would call/e-mail me and say, "No stress, if they do blah, blah, blah, we will do blah, blah, blah. She always has a game plan and is always thinking. She instructed the surgeons office to resubmit the information to the insurance company and told me to wait the 30 some odd days to receive information. If I was denied again she said she would immediately appeal. On Tuesday the surgeons office contacted me and said the insurance company said I had 3 days to get them an "official" weight and bmi. On Wednesday I was @ my pc doctor's office who faxed that info to the surgeons office. Maybe this is good news and Humana is finally doing what they are paid for.

[swilson 0]

I had a terrible experience with Walter Lindstrom and http://www.obesitylaw.com/. Initially he wrote a good letter to the insurance company, but that was all I got for my money. He never appealed to the state board as promised. He and his wife Kelly failed to return MANY attempts at communication. In one instance Kelly didn't even know which case I was. Eventually I had the surgery after waiting for Walter and wife to do something. It had been six months since I paid them and they'd done nothing but send one letter to my insurance company.

Even after I had the surgery and self-paid (and threatened to report Walter Lindstrom and obesitylaw.com to the CA bar) they promised to appeal my case to the State Insurance board. I sent them all the documentation and once again I got NOTHING from them. They never filed a thing with my insurance company, never filed a thing with the State appeal board. NOT A THING! SAVE YOUR MONEY or get a real attorney. I believe the insurance companies know that Walter Lindstrom and ObesityLaw.com have no leverage, and no jurisdiction outside of maybe California. They are ignored, have no influence, and have no impact.

[spectacularone 0]

Lindstroms have taken my case for FREE due to the Inamed funding thing so I guess that it's true. I will see how far they get. So far they take a couple days to return an email/phone call. But, having come from a legal background I have found that to be true with almost every good attorney (they don't have time to sit and answer emails all day).

The proof will be in the results. I have built quite a case myself with 5 years diet history (I can't beleive I found all those receipts and weigh ins), all my previous prescription records from 6+years (fen-fen, meridia), primary care physicians records etc. I do have one concern: someone mentioned that you may have to have been a 35 BMI for at least 5 years? That I don't have. I did lose weight on diets of course I gained it all back. But, I for sure have some weights that are below 35.

[Alexandra 55]

I did not use, but contacted Walter Lindstrom. I called and told them my situation, and they were honest with me. I had a company that had NEVER paid for the band. They had fought my insurance and lost a few times. They refused to take my case, Kelly (walters wife) told me that they had to look at themselves everyday and wanted to be able to do that in good conscience. They were honest with me, I was upset but at least I wasn't out a bunch of money. I continued to fight and eventually won. The first person I called was Kelly, she was so happy for me. They are nice, honest and walter has had WLS himself so they know how it is to fight for it. ~Mandy

This is almost exactly my story! My carrier was Aetna, and at the point I applied they still had the band as an exclusion and had never paid for it. The Lindstroms were very nice and interested in trying to help, but they weren't overly optimistic about my chances of winning so I decided to save my money. I continued to fight and eventually won, and yep, one of the people I called was Kelly. They were really happy to hear I had prevailed!

[spectacularone 0]

anybody have any idea how long the attorneys take to put the appeal together?

[Busy 0]

I think after they have all the info for an appeal they submit it to the insurance co. then the insurance company has so many weeks to respond. Then the attorney has so many weeks to respond. (I know, absolutely no help, this is why I am not in the legal field, either bad guys would be running loose or good guys would be behind bars!!) It took approx 6 to 8 weeks to hear from the insurance company that they had denied me the 2nd time because I did not appeal within 30 days of my 1st denial. I was denied the 1st time because I had not completed the supervised diet; therefore, I was doing the 6 month supervised diet.

[piercedqt78 658]

The insurance company has 30 days to make a decision. (I was told 30 calander days, some say it's 30 business days) I know that some lawyers will do expidited appeals but they may charge more. The legal group would be the best place to get those answers. ~Mandy