BCBS approving Penniculectomy?? Anyone have any luck?

Hi All; 9 mo out like us all and down 140 pounds. Wen't to a plastic surgeon today to see about getting my roll taken off of my lower abdomen. I liked the Dr. a great deal. He is not sure if BCBS will cover it and gosh knows I do not have an extra 3,500.00 dollars to cover it! He said he has seen much worse from us bariatric folks and is not sure if bcbs will cover it. Has anyone thought about it?? Any luck getting the insurance to cover. I do not get rashes or sores, as I said, it is not that bad, however, I think it is! Have a great day.

I've heard of some insurance companies covering it IF the patient has back pain ... the extra weight pulled on the back muscles.

Hey Craig, I hear ya. I don't like the look of my gutt, but unfortunately my insurance company won't cover it either. It seems that the flab must hang down 3 inches below the waist from a standing position to qualify. Who comes up with this crap?!?!? Anyway, good luck with it. Remember, even if you do have to pay for it out of pocket, you're worth it! Sometimes you have to do something for yourself. Take care.

Craig, What I would do (and what I'm going to do pretty soon) is call customer service and have them fax you the info on reconstructive surgery from their handbook. Also ask what the conditions are for covering it. Once you know the conditions, you can start working on meeting them. I have Blue Cross Federal, and I think I remember seeing in the handbook that reconstructive surgery is covered after significant weight loss. Each sect of the company is different, but if they covered WLS to begin with, many also cover reconstruction when you're done. I think I need to lose 100 pounds to be considered (since that's how much overweight you need to be to be approved for WLS to begin with), but I see that you've gone way beyond that. Let us know what you find out. I'm interested. Linn