Loose skin

Has anyone heard that insuance may cover loose skin removal once you have lost 100 pounds due to gastric surgery? My physician had mentiones that, but I hadn't heard of anyone having that covered by insurance. I would possibly be interested in a tummy tuck if my tummy doesn't flatten more once I reach my 100 pound mark.....

Any thoughts?

 My insurance doesnt cover it with substantial proof that it causes health issues.

I am going too assume not my insurance wouldn't even cover wls even with a bmi of 60, so I'm just going with why would they cover cosmetic surgery. I will have to pay for my tummy tuck.

I only heard of insurance covering when there are health problems associated with it.

It depends on your insurance.  Right now I have Aetna, and there must be problems + pannus below pubic area.  I used to have Medical Mutual of Ohio (unfortunately, that was prior to WLS).  MMO's policy covered a panniculectomy + breast lift with documented weight loss of >80 lbs.  I'm not sure if that is still in their policy, however, as it was some years ago.

Documentation is key. Rashes, hanging skin that interferes with skin health and hygeine issues can sometimes get covered, but it takes diligence. I've been having various doctors, PCM, surgeon, OB all document any issues or complaints I have about the skin.

Our insurance will be covering a full tummy tuck with muscle tightening since I've lost 130+ pounds, and now into my 2nd pregnancy post-VSG, and 3 csections later, I have hanging skin now. After I got into maintenance, there was very little hang, it was more like a baby fat roll on my lower abdomen and it didn't hang at all. My skin rebounded really nicely, and I had put off getting plastics because technically and medically it wasn't necessary. Well, now it is. I had wound healing issues with my csection incision after Tatum's arrival, it took 8 weeks for it to finally close, and now being pregnant again so soon after her arrival, I'm having skin issues that are being closely monitored and documented by my OB. My skin is extremely fragile due to csection incisions, and stretch marks in that region so it need to be done. He told me at my last appt that around my 28 week mark, they'll bring in the plastic surgeon and will do an assessment of my skin, stretch and will try to do some skin removal during the csection, nothing cosmetic, but to make sure I don't have healing issues again. Then, as long as I get back down to pre-baby weigh, I can have the tummy tuck in 6-9 months post-delivery.

 First, call your insurance.  All plans have different coverages and different requirements.  As the other posters said ,have everything documented by your PCP and surgeon(s).

I have BCBS of MI.  They will cover abdominoplasty on my plan for weight loss >100 lbs - no photos or anything else needed after bariatric surgery.  They don't cover any other procedures.

I have heard of other plans that require medical reviews with photos of rashes, etc.  It all really depends on your policy.

Thank you. I have BCBS also, but I will call for clarification.

Its best.  Each BCBS is different.  Talking to other WLS patients some BCBS branches have been a complete pain, and a few like MI are easy to deal with.  Also ask around in your support groups if you haven't already.

My insurance won't cover anything if it's wls related, so I'm not going to tell them that I had wls. I figure since I was self-pay, there's no need for them to know.

Hopefully they will cover something in the way of plastics once I get to that point, but we'll just have to see. Hopefully I'll have a better insurance plan by then anyways.