Insurance approved -- now what?

I saw my surgeon for the initial evaluation on June 2. I called his office yesterday as I had heard nothing from him. His secretary put me on hold and then came back and said my blue cross had approved the surgery. I asked her what was the next step and she said to wait for my "packet" to come in the mail. She was very abrubt with me and I was too timid to ask what the heck was in the packet. I did ask her how long to wait for it until I should call the office and she basically said don't call the office, just wait for the packet. I am assuming this "packet" contains my pre op visits/ appointments? I really don't know. Does anyone have a clue? (I had attended the information seminar in May but no mention was made of a packet).

Thank you to anyone who can help!


Anne in RI

congrats on the approval. I sent my stuff off to aetna and bcbs 2 wks ago and im still waiting on approval. i dont know what the packet is, i would say way another week and then call the office and ask about it, or atleast wait till monday.

I have no idea what you packet is, either, but shame on that rude employee! You are paying her salary, in effect, and she should remember that.

Orea

From experience I've learned that if you don't keep on top of the doctor's office, you'll wait forever to hear from them. I would wait no longer than Monday, & call back and ask lots of questions. I always write mine down before i call so i don't forget anything. Good luck & keep us posted!!

My packet consisted of a binder with dietary requirements along with a sheel to all my evals ie. nutritionist, phsych, EKG and blood. Chances are you need to get some tests done prior to surgery if you haven't already. Good luck.

I have highmark BCBS the surgeon's office submitted my stuff on July 3, waiting. Good luck

Mrsezova I hope by now you found out what was in the packet. Let us know. I'm curious.

If not, i would definitely go into the doctor's office and talk to them face-to-face.

I think the packet is a little different for each surgery group. I started with one surgeon/hospital until I learned they didn't accept my insurance. Their packet was different from the one I got from the clinic that is doing my surgery.

You should get information on what the surgeon is going to require before the procedure is done, I would think.
Since you are already approved, this might be some pre-op counseling, perhaps a diet, doing blood work/testing/etc to see exactly where you are with co-morbidities...that really is determined by the insurance...who has given you the go-ahead, and the surgeon.

I agree with other posters that you may need to be more assertive with the office. If it is a busy clinic, doing a lot of surgeries, it is easy to not get the attention you deserve.

Don't get discouraged! Keep working on the process, and things will fall into place.

I called my doctor's office last Thursday and was told my "packet" was 95% completed, was put on hold, and then was told the packet would be mailed that day or the next. I asked what the packet contained and was told it has all of the appointments I need to go to before surgery. I was also told that most of these appointments have been made for me. I sure hope I don't have to miss too many days of work. The office and the hospital are almost an hour away from where I live and work.

Once I actually receive the packet I will let you all know what it contains! Thanks for caring.

Well, the packet finally arrived and only two of the appointments were made for me (that's more like 20% not 95% as I was told) and I had to reschedule them both anyway. However, I have already had my nutritionist consult and am having my sleep study eval and upper GI next week. My psych eval is August 18 and after that I should be ready to make the appt to see the dr to schedule my surgery! I am scared but so excited too!