That is what I was told as well. I verified with my insurance company. I have Excellus BC/BS.....they want to be sure the surgery is necessary and worth the risk. The QA told me that because of the success/failure rate the bigger risk with complications is with the ablation. Hope this helps! Oh and the insurance company statistics of successful ablation is significantly less that reported on many websites.

Marikay, I don't think I would believe anything insurance companies tell you, it is hard enough to believe your doctor. I'v had 1 ablation, and although I still have a-fib, it is not quite as bad as before the ablation. I intend to check into a 2nd ablation. As for taking meds, I can't tolerate most of them. it is not a permanent solution for me. I don't think insurance companies want to pay for surgery if they can talk their patients into taking meds. See the forum called " stop a-fib.org" they have tons of information on meds vs ablation. clarap

Marikay,

My BC/BS insurance never questioned anything about the three ablations I had. The only call I had was to see if a nurse with the insurance company could advocate for me to improve my care. She was delighted that I had taken the opportunity to seek a second opinion from an EP at Cleveland Clinic who said they would do the same as the Geisinger EPs in PA. All of these procedures were covered in full after my $500 deductible. I had failed to stay in NSR on sotalol and amiodorone, but the Tikosyn and metoprolol succinate seem to be doing the trick....ten good weeks so I will stop counting! Best of luck to you!