My wife found out this morning that our insurance company has approved coverage of her gastric-bypass surgery, an operation her doctors have told her will literally save her life, especially in light of the hastening deterioation of her health in the past few months. Maria does not have any problems with overeating, lack of exercise, or the such; she suffers from true metabolic disorder. As a result, no amount of dieting, exercise, medication, or anything else can help her control her weight, but she still had to provide medically-documented evidence of regulated, extensive attempts at such. Despite this evidence and letters of “medical necessity” from both her primary-care physician and the surgeon, the insurance company dragged the process out for two months, continuing to ask for more documentation above and beyond the inital requirements. In the end, I think she buried them into submission. I am very excited for her and look forward to getting an actual surgery date set.