Re: New to group/Frustrated

[Guest guest]

Hi & welcome to our group

Sorry to hear of yet another delay in getting your daughter her

band. What insurance do you have? I can't believe some ins.

companies take sooo long just to decide whether or not they approve

something!

To give you some good news, my daughter, Abby began her DOCband at

11.5 mos of age with severe plagio. Abby wore one DOCband for 4.5

mos, graduated at age 15.5 mos with 50-60% correction. No, it's not

100% and her head isn't perfect, but we really couldn't be any

happier with her improvement! A lot of parents begin their

child " older " and still get good correction. You most likely wouldn't

achieve 100% correction beginning older, but there is still corretion

to be had! You can see Abby's before DOCband & after band photos at

the following link, then go to " before and after " Abby is the 3rd

baby down, I think the last http://www.plagiocephaly.org/support

Good luck with your ins. company..grrr! Hope you get an approval

soon!!!! Which Cranial Tech clinic will you be going to?

Welcome again!

Debbie Abby's mom DOCGrad

MI

> Hello,

>

> My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and were

> told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have already had

> her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now 10

mos.

> and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would take

30

> days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I know

> what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait. It

could

> be another two months before she gets her band. Will the band be

> less effective at that point? Everything I have read states that

> you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love to hear

> from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an older

> infant. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

You should check your policy and see how long your insurance co. has

to make a decision regarding preauthorization if preauthorization is

required. My policy stated they had 48 hours. I kept calling them

and hammering that home to them when the time was up. At the end of

72 hours they finally faxed their denial to Cranial Tech. so we could

get started. If it doesn't say in your policy how long they have I

would contact your state insurance board to ask them if there is

anything you can do to speed things up so your daughter doesn't

suffer from the delay in treatment time. Explain to them that time

is of the essence and ask them what they can do to intervene.

As far as success at a later age, my son was fitted with a DOCband at

9 and 1/2 months and wore two bands for a total of 9 months with a

total correction of approx. 95 percent. Pictures of his progress in

his first band only are in the pictures section under W.

Candy, mom to (DOCband grad 6/3/02)

land

> Hello,

>

> My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and were

> told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have already had

> her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now 10

mos.

> and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would take

30

> days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I know

> what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait. It

could

> be another two months before she gets her band. Will the band be

> less effective at that point? Everything I have read states that

> you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love to hear

> from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an older

> infant. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Thanks so much for the responses. Our insurance co. is Aetna and

our Cranial Tech. is in Dallas. Well, I did hound my insurance co.

some more and they said the nurse would review her case and it would

take a week instead of 30 days. But I think I will continue to call

because I don't want them to drop the ball. A week seems like a

long time to me at this point. I'm so ready to get this process

started. It is very nice that you all are still taking the time to

help people even though your babies have " graduated " . I really

appreciate it:)

-- In Plagiocephaly@y..., " debbieandabby " <dj2kirby@c...> wrote:

> Hi & welcome to our group

>

> Sorry to hear of yet another delay in getting your daughter her

> band. What insurance do you have? I can't believe some ins.

> companies take sooo long just to decide whether or not they approve

> something!

>

> To give you some good news, my daughter, Abby began her DOCband at

> 11.5 mos of age with severe plagio. Abby wore one DOCband for 4.5

> mos, graduated at age 15.5 mos with 50-60% correction. No, it's

not

> 100% and her head isn't perfect, but we really couldn't be any

> happier with her improvement! A lot of parents begin their

> child " older " and still get good correction. You most likely

wouldn't

> achieve 100% correction beginning older, but there is still

corretion

> to be had! You can see Abby's before DOCband & after band photos

at

> the following link, then go to " before and after " Abby is the 3rd

> baby down, I think the last http://www.plagiocephaly.org/support

>

> Good luck with your ins. company..grrr! Hope you get an approval

> soon!!!! Which Cranial Tech clinic will you be going to?

> Welcome again!

>

> Debbie Abby's mom DOCGrad

> MI

>

>

> > Hello,

> >

> > My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> > plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and

were

> > told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> > pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have already

had

> > her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now 10

> mos.

> > and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> > personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would

take

> 30

> > days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I

know

> > what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait. It

> could

> > be another two months before she gets her band. Will the band

be

> > less effective at that point? Everything I have read states

that

> > you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love to

hear

> > from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an older

> > infant. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

-

Do you have an appt scheduled for the casting? If you are banding

whatever the outcome is from Aetna, you might want to schedule the

casting a week or two in advance.

I know with a lot insurance companies, you shouldn't proceed with

the casting until you approved or denied. It can take a while to

get an appointment. Our insurance company had to give us a decision

within a week. I didn't wait to hear from them, I booked it in

advance because I knew we were proceeding either way and I didn't

want to waste anymore time. We were denied on a Wednesday and Dane

was casted on Saturday. I started the appeals process the day before

casting.

Good luck. Hopefully you will only hear good news!

Dane's mom DOC Grad

> > > Hello,

> > >

> > > My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> > > plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and

> were

> > > told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> > > pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have already

> had

> > > her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now

10

> > mos.

> > > and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> > > personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would

> take

> > 30

> > > days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I

> know

> > > what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait. It

> > could

> > > be another two months before she gets her band. Will the

band

> be

> > > less effective at that point? Everything I have read states

> that

> > > you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love to

> hear

> > > from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an older

> > > infant. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

,

Hi, my daughter, Mackenzie, did not get her Docband until she was 10

months & 5 days and has been in it now for almost 3 months...she has

gotten great improvement to the point that our orthotist thinks that

Mackenzie won't have to be in for as long as originally thought...we

think we caught her just beginning a growth spurt. Anyway, one

reason I wanted to post to you is that I was given a link by somebody

that lists Aetna's criteria for approval of a DOCBand...I thought

that it might be of use to you & Hannah. I hope it helps. I know that

it helped me in writing an appeal letter to our insurance even though

it wasn't Aetna and it was approved...maybe it can do the same for

you.

http://www.aetna.com/cpb/data/CPBA0379.html

(mom to Mackenzie)

Phoenix, AZ

> Hello,

>

> My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and were

> told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have already had

> her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now 10

mos.

> and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would take

30

> days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I know

> what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait. It

could

> be another two months before she gets her band. Will the band be

> less effective at that point? Everything I have read states that

> you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love to hear

> from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an older

> infant. Thanks,

[Guest guest]

Keystone took 3 weeks to decide. They said it would take a minimum

of two weeks. I had to re-schedule the casting appt, ridiculous! At

least they are going to pay %80.

-/Logan6 months

PA

> > > > Hello,

> > > >

> > > > My daughter, Hannah, had been diagnosed with positional

> > > > plagiocephaly. Like many others, we noticed it early on and

> > were

> > > > told it would round itself out. We finally went to a new

> > > > pediatrician who told us to get the DOC Band. We have

already

> > had

> > > > her measured and this is were the problem lies. She is now

> 10

> > > mos.

> > > > and we are wainting to get approval from our insurance co. I

> > > > personally called the insurance co. and they told me it would

> > take

> > > 30

> > > > days just to have the case looked at by a nurse. Now that I

> > know

> > > > what needs to be done, I am frustrated at having to wait.

It

> > > could

> > > > be another two months before she gets her band. Will the

> band

> > be

> > > > less effective at that point? Everything I have read states

> > that

> > > > you should get them in before 1 year. I would really love

to

> > hear

> > > > from someone who has had success with the DOC Band in an

older

> > > > infant. Thanks,