excess skin removal: denied by insurance

Well, I heard back from the plastic surgeon this past Wednesday about the claim sent to my insurance company for excess skin removal: I was denied. 


I can't say I'm surprised that I was denied, but I'm still extremely disappointed nonetheless.  I can't even appeal it, because there's no room in the policy for possible approval based on medical necessity. I was quite deflated, so Wednesday was Not a Good Day for me. It basically sucked all the motivation out of me. I know, that's extreme and I shouldn't let this cause a huge setback, but I was really counting on this. I didn't realize until the last month or so how much I want to do this. It's not really cosmetic at all.  It's about comfort. I want to be able to exercise to my fullest ability--certain exercises are tough or just not doable at the moment because I have all this hanging skin in the way.  I want to be able to button my pants and not have tuck in all that skin like a shirt. (Yes, that's really what it's like.)


Anyway, the surgeon's office is going to put together a quote to see how much it would be for me to pay on my own. I'm not confident that this will be attainable in 2017, but we'll see.  When I visited the surgeon for my consultation in August, she said that she typically discounts her fee in the event the patient has to pay out of pocket. (Makes me wonder how much these doctors inflate their costs when they know insurance is paying, but I guess that's the way this system works.) So, I'm hoping it's not totally outrageous. I'd surely have to get a loan for part or all of it, which I don't really want to do, but if it means comfort for me in the long term I'll do it.


So, as it stands now, I'm waiting on a quote from the surgeon's office. In the meantime I'll continue to workout and eat right. I'll try to use this as the push I need to get the surgery. Since I can't rely on insurance to help with the cost, it's all on me now. If I stop working out and eating right, I'll have wasted a lot of money in terms of a personal trainer and bariatric surgery.