I have not been "morbidly obese" for five years. Has anyone gotten around this?

[kjj]

Hi, I am trying to get approval for lapband surgery and at this point I have not yet turned my information in to my insurance company, but I am concerned because I have not been morbidly obese for at least five years.
I fit all other criteria. I was an obese child, but I rarely if ever went to the Dr. I have tried to find documentation of my obesity through my childhood, but beyond pictures I just can't. When I was about 17 I lost a lot of weight through starvation, got pregnant when I was 18 and have been gaining back ever since. I am now 22 years old. I can document my continual gaining for the past three to four years, but when the documentation starts I was only about 170-180. I am now 240 with a BMI of 42. Does anyone have any experience with these issues? Do you all think it will be an issue? If so, how can I overcome it? I have received letters of recommendation from my OBGYN and my PCP, and have an appointment with the surgeon for his reccomedation. Thank you all in advance.

[Patrick]

I didn't have 5 full years either. Of course, I had sleep apnea and irregular heart beat, which did help. However, the records went through the health insurance company smoothly because of the recommendations from Dr office, which included evaluation from psy, nut. and exercise therapist. I also had personal gp write a letter as well. Hang in there, I think that ins co. are a lot more for preventitive measures than a lot of us anticipate.

[Want_2_B_Free]

Not sure what insurance you have, but I have no requirement that I have to be "morbidly obese" for the last years to qualify. I do however have to provide 5 yrs. of documented weight via Dr. visits. It is more so thay they can see my bp in corrolation to my weight. If my BMI at the time of my initial consult with the surgeon was above 40 I did not need to have any co-morbidities. If it was between 35 and 39 I need to have at least one co-morbidity. I was at 43 BMI with 3 or 4 co-morbidities. Now I get to submit and see what happens. Good luck to you.

[kjj]

Thanks, it was not so much my insurance company as much as every where I look on the internet one of the criteria to qualify for lap band surgery is to have been morbidly obese for at least five years. I was sure that my insurance company (Key Benefits) would use that as a way out of paying for it.