Question:
12 month doctor supervised diet
Has anyone here been insured by BC/BS of Florida and recently needed proof of 12 month supervised diet by doctor. How did you handle that if you couldn't prove this. — Sue Johnson (posted on September 15, 2002)
September 15, 2002
I am insured with HumanaHMO and they required the same information from my
doctor. The only thing I had documented was a prescription for Phentermine,
in the Summer '01, by my PCP. I asked her to write a letter stating that
information and how much I lost (a whopping 8 lbs in 3 mos) during that
time. Even though I had tried other diets over the past year, she didn't
feel comfortable stating that as fact to the insurance company. So....what
I did was talk to the internal medicine Dr. I had seen this past year for
diabtes and thyroid nodules. I wrote a letter, with my family medical
history, my diet attempts for the past year, how much weight I
lost/re-gained with each and my current medical problems. I asked him to
put the letter in 'his voice' on his letterhead and send it to my surgeon.
It took three weeks, but he practically used word for word what I had
written. The combination of the two letters put enough of a 12 month
history to satisfy Humana.
I would suggest you talk to your Dr and see if he/she is supportive of
doing the same. Hope you get your approval!
— TanaMom2JAM
September 15, 2002
Requirements like this are only made to try to prevent surgery. Perhaps
thinking some will loose interest. Its a well known fact that less than 1%
of MOs will lose a 100 pounds or more and keep it off. So requiring diet
history doesnt matter to anyone but a bean counter behind a insurance
company desk trying to cut costs. Same for insurance requiring so many
pounds lost bEFORE WLS approval. All a sham to save money...
— bob-haller
September 15, 2002
I have heard that Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers and things like that have
been counted as they are supervised. I did both and told my insurance
company that if they chose, I would sign a release for them to track down
the information. They did not want to waste the man power (money) tracking
the info...RNY 10/15/02..1 month to go! Good Luck!
— cherokey55
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