Length of wait time before surgery

[MANDY2910]

Anyone on Medicare or an Advantage plan specifically? How long was the process before you were approved? I have heard multiple stories on this. Some people say it takes over 4 months just to hear back from them, others say as soon as you have met all requirements they set you up for surgery because Medicare doesn’t pre-authorize the surgery. Help!

 

[JudyNY]

I have Medicare but also have Tricare for Life as my husband is retired military. I didn't have to wait for a preapproval and did my requirements just under 3 months but due to Covid had to wait another 3 months as this was in 2020 during the shut down.

 

[MANDY2910]

That’s good to know. Is it true JudyNY that they don’t get a pre-auth before surgery? That freaks me out a bit…

 

[JudyNY]

That’s good to know. Is it true JudyNY that they don’t get a pre-auth before surgery? That freaks me out a bit…

I don't think they do, but then again my bariatric center handled everything.

 

[RecoveringSecretEater]

I had original Medicare at the start of this. After my surgical consent appointment, my surgeon said they were sending it in to Medicare for approval which he said usually takes 2-3 weeks. But I had a change in insurance, but my new one approved it in a week! Prior to the consent visit, I was under the impression I didn’t need it. It could just be my hospital and their guidelines with requirements despite having Medicare.