United healthcare What counts towards the 6mo required diet

[Michelle Keller 7]

My husband just took a new job with better insurance that finally covers bariatric surgery. We decided on the best plan because I knew I wanted to get the surgery. Now I’m seeing that there is a 6 month medically supervised diet required before surgery and keep reading that a surgeon won’t even speak to you until that’s done, which means I couldn’t get the surgery this year. I need to get the surgery done this year as we can’t afford to pay for the best insurance plan again next year snd without the best insurance plan, the out of pocket maximum is much much higher.
My pcp had me on Phenteramine last year, for about 8 months. Any chance this would count as a medically supervised diet? Im probably grasping at straws here, but I’m so upset that I didn’t realize this earlier.

Edited June 11, 2021 by Michelle Keller

[Crick 145]

I have UHC as well. That’s not true about the surgeon, or at least it wasn’t for me. Now to speak to the surgeon, they first had to get pre-approval from insurance (just verifying that I was eligible). When I met with the surgeon for the first time in late October, I was able to tell them about a wellness program I was doing. They were able to use those records so I didn’t have to do the 6 month thing. I had surgery in early January (could have had it earlier but wanted to enjoy Christmas).

[qianmij 31]

Michelle,

I met this requirement by meeting monthly for (6) months to talk about my diet/exercise/nutrition. Encounters lasted anywhere from 5-20 minutes. Two of the encounters UHC allowed were the initial consultation/referral from PCP and first pre-op consultation with Surgeon. When I felt I had met my 6 months, I called UHC to confirm one more time and they also sent the pre-approval to Surgeon. I hope that helps!