Post-WLS Insurance Issues - PLEASE READ IF YOU HAVE HAD THE SURGERY
Dear everyone,
If you have had weight loss surgery, please keep reading (if you haven’t, you
may want to
read this anyway):
I had my stomach stapled almost five years ago. At the time, I was under my
parents’
insurance, which wouldn’t cover the surgery, so my parents paid for it (I am
very blessed
for that).
Two years later, I was no longer considered a dependent, so I went to Blue
Sheild for
insurance. At first, they denied me, because I had recently had the surgery -
they were
worried about complications - but I was HIPAA eligible (because of the COBRA I
had been
on before with my parents’ insurance), and so they legally had to offer me
“guaranteed
issue” insurance, which is almost $300 a month, plus $45 for co-pays, and they
basically
don’t cover prescriptions.
I waited a couple of years and dealt with the $300 a month, realizing their
concerns that
there might be unforeseen complications from having just had the surgery.
So, last month, I went to an insurance agent to look at Blue Cross as an
alternative.
Yesterday, I got the terrible news that Blue Cross denied me too, stating that I
was 7 lbs
over weight (yes, you read that correctly - seven pounds) and that if I could
lose 7 lbs and
have it documented by a doctor for the next two years that I’ve kept the 7 lbs
off, they
would reconsider me.
Obviously, I was outraged and still am. I had the surgery as a last resort (who
would be put
to sleep and go through the pain as a shortcut to weight loss?!?) and as a
BENEFIT to my
health - I will never have heart disease, I will never have diabetes, I will
never have
hypertension, and I will NEVER BE OBESE. I went through so much so that I
wouldn’t have a
heart attack at 40, or worse, be on my deathbed, and now I’m being punished for
it.
That being said, I went back to the insurance agent who was outraged on my
behalf. He
first called Blue Cross and found out that the letter they sent was bogus - they
would
never reconsider me, because I had had any of the myriad types of bariatric
surgery. Then
he made dozens of phone calls to all conceivable health insurance companies in
at least
six different states. He called me today to tell me the terrible news. I am
uninsurable.
Unless I get married or get group insurance through a job (not possible in my
line of
work), I am uninsurable.
I will never get insurance on my own, because I had my stomach stapled.
Because I did something to benefit my health - on my parents’ dime, not on an
insurance
company’s - and something that prevents costing the insurance company tens of
thousands of dollars in what would have been extensive care for, say, diabetes,
hypertension, etc - I will be punished for the rest of my life.
As you can tell, I am outraged. If you have faced this, please join me in my
fight. I am just
starting now to research how all states and different countries handle this, and
I plan to
take my fight to the White House if need be.
Please, send me your stories, so that I can compile more and more information
that will
only benefit us and others like us.
Thank you for your time.
-Gina