When Does the Health Insurance Pay for Liposuction?

Patients planning to undergo liposuction ask me this question again and again. Basically, health insurances have to be very thrifty because of the high costs of the health system, and thus only pay if they are have a clear contractual obligation. If you want to receive treatments which are not part of the everyday “standard”, for example liposuction, you have to prove that the procedure is indispensable for therapeutic reasons and that it will not only make you look better. Often it is useful to submit medical certificates demonstrating that the procedure serves therapeutic purposes to the insurance doctor, who will evaluate the medical necessity of the treatment for the insurance company.

For example, liposuction is paid by the health insurance in case of massive lipedema or obesity if it has already caused a disability. From the perspective of a health insurance it is mostly irrelevant whether liposuction is carried out with regular cannulas or microcannulas. However, health insurance companies often require the extraction of a certain minimum amount of fat.

In addition, private health insurances generally have more extensive liabilities than public health insurances.

A request to the health insurance for coverage of the costs is free. Ideally the inquiry should be made prior to the liposuction. This applies to all aesthetic procedures, such as breast augmentations, facelifts, etc.

Finally, we all constantly pay into the health fund, so we can expect to get back insurance benefits.

DDr. Heinrich, MD

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