Medical insurance is NOT a blanket, 100% promise by a for-profit company to pay your medical bills.
It is a contract between the company and either you or, in most cases your employer, to PARTIALLY pay (after you pay deductibles, co-pays etc) for AGREED UPON “benefits”. (As a result, a lot of policies are sold with limited Mental Health or Drug and Alcohol Rehabilitation benefits – NOT because they are not important but because either you or your employer decided to pay less for a policy without them).
One set of benefits that is ALWAYS excluded from all policies is Cosmetic Surgery (surgery which improves appearance but does not save lives or improves function).
Liposuction IS a cosmetic procedure and no amount of defining it any other way will sway an insurance company who is already stingy in paying for services it agreed to pay for to change its contract and begin paying for cosmetic surgery.
Things are so bad that occasionally when we perform a Reconstructive procedure such as Breast Reduction or Breast Reconstruction and want to give the breast a better shape by doing some liposuction of the sides of the chest, we risk having the claim denied by an insurance company knucklehead who would then claim the whole procedure was “cosmetic” in nature (despite previous submission of photographs and a formal approval).
To get liposuction, you will have to see a Plastic surgeon and pay for it out of pocket. (Peter A. Aldea, MD, Memphis Plastic Surgeon)
I have never had an insurance company cover liposuction, no matter what the reasons are. I suspect they would want you to try to explore other methods of weight loss first. (Thomas Fiala, MD, Orlando Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is a cosmetic procedure
Liposuction for your abdomen would not be covered by your insurance as they would consider it a cosmetic procedure. You should explore all avenues to help you lose weight and reduce your abdominal bulge.
Liposuction is not and should not be used as a weight loss procedure. The effort put into your weight loss may be difficult but is needed and will pay off in many other benefits as well. (Jeffrey M. Darrow, MD, Boston Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is consider cosmetic surgery and is not deemed medically necessary; hence, it is not covered by your insurance. (C. Bob Basu, MD, FACS, Houston Plastic Surgeon)
I have never ever heard of a case where liposuction was covered due to body dysproportionality. Sorry, but liposuction is always a cosmetic procedure, EXCEPT when it is used for contouring after a reconstructive procedure for breast reconstruction after a mastectomy.
Health Insurance For Lipo
Even then it is almost impossible to get approved. (Steven Schuster, MD, FACS, Boca Raton Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is usually not covered by insurance, and it is not a way to loose weight. My suggestion is to loose the weight first, then consider a procedure to correct what remains. (Shahin Javaheri, MD, San Francisco Plastic Surgeon)
Insurance coverage of liposuction.
The insurance company will not consider this an adequate reason to justify coverage of the procedure. If you have a human resources department, you may be able to take up your cause with them but your chances of success are minimal. (Otto Joseph Placik, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is not a treatment for weight loss
Being overweight will not be corrected by liposuction. Once the surgery is done, you will regain weight if your calorie consumption and exercise regimen doesn’t change. To say that losing weight will not redistribute the volume of fat is probably not correct.
Once weight is reduced, and the fat diminishes, the shape will improve and your symptoms will be addressed. This will give you a long term solution to your problem. (Ronald Shelton, MD, Manhattan Dermatologic Surgeon)
It is not a weight loss method, but a contouring tool for local fat deposits. It is not covered by any health insurance. Many plastic surgeons offer healthcare financing, which can help make cosmetic procedures more affordable. (Paul S. Gill, MD, Houston Plastic Surgeon)
Liposuction is deemed a cosmetic therapy that health insurance companies exclude in their coverage disclaimer. (Darryl J. Blinski, MD, Miami Plastic Surgeon)