Question:
Does Principal Financial AHC cover skin removal or plastics after surgery?

I was just wondering if anyone has Principal Financial AHC and has had WLS if they also had any skin removal or tummy tuck, body lift etc.. covered by insurance? Were there any specific conditions or restrictions to be met to have it covered? I had told a friend I was considering WLS and she is very against it due to the possibilty of hanging skin after, she said our insurance most likely will not cover it due to it says only one weight loss surgery per lifetime.    — kristikat82 (posted on July 22, 2006)

July 22, 2006
I don't think your friend is worried about your hanging skin. Thats a really bad reason to not have surgery and get healtier. Even if I had hanging skin I'd be better off than without losing weight. Unless you are super obese, you probably won't look horrible dressed. You may want some skin tighting later but more for yourself than anything. I was 415 and had aroll when I lost but even still...that was better than being 415 lbs! Furthermore, plastic surgery is not weight loss surgery and if you research and know the surgeries and do it right, you only need one. Plastics would be under a different category. Personally, I feel you need to decide what you want , if you want surgery and what you expect and if it fits your needs go for it. Hanging skin is seriously not a reason to not lose weight. If you need to lose weight, you need to do regardless of skin and regardless of how you do it...if you're going to end up with hanging skin...it won't matter how the weight was lost. So do what is right for you and look at the health benefits.
   — amillman

July 23, 2006
The hanging skin is unfortunate, but the excess wewight causes so many health problems that it is well worth it. Most insurance does not cover removal of excess skin. Go to your insurance's web site and look for their clinical guidelines on plastic surgery or call and ask. The best way to find out is to go directly to the source!
   — Novashannon