BCBS of South Carolina (HELP)

[lilbit08 0]

:blush:Ok i was truly thinking about being banded until i saw more information on the sleeve and i am thinking that may be more of the one for me. anyways, to the insurance! i dont have insurance right now, but i will on 8/1 BCBS of South Carolina. i am not sure that the insurance is going to cover the procedure so i am needing some advice. should i look into weight loss surgery as soon as the insurance kicks in or wait some months? also, if i cant get approved by the insurance and need to do self pay, what are the options out there. if i go with the lapband i am going to use dr wade barker here in tx but if i get the sleeve i am going to use Dr. Guillermo Alvarez in mexico....please ANY advice will help me...:biggrin:

[lilbit08 0]

Ok Come On Now...no One Can Tell Me Anything Or Have Any Advice?????

[ebinsc 0]

BCBS SC does not cover any type of weight loss surgery. They have an explicit exclusion in all their policies regarding it. Even if your doctor writes them a letter stating that the surgery is necessary, which they will do automatically, they will not cover it. BCBS of Texas and SC are the only two BC states that won't cover it from what I understand. So if you're planning to do it, you'll be self-pay.

I have BCBS SC and I just had surgery on 6/4 which I had to pay for out of pocket.

The options that my surgeons' office had weren't really options so to speak. They gave me contact names at some banks to look into private lending (home equity loan, personal loan, etc.). I ended paying out of my savings. Maybe your doc's office will offer some type of financing but that wasn't the case for me. I had to paid in full before they would schedule me for surgery.

Good luck.

[lilbit08 0]

thanks for the reply. i was trying to wait til it kicks in 8/1 to see if it was going to cover so i appreciate the info. not sure that i can get a loan or finance it because i dont have any credit which is just like bad credit...again, thanks!