Medical procedures are not cheap. Thankfully, there is health insurance to cover the basics. However, health insurance generally does not cover cosmetic procedures.
If you are looking for financing options to fund an elective procedure, you need to apply for a cosmetic loan.
That said, health insurance frequently does cover reconstructive procedures.
Let’s take a look at the difference between cosmetic and reconstructive procedures so we can better understand the way health insurance classifies each.
Cosmetic Procedures
Cosmetic procedures, as the name implies, are performed to enhance one’s physical appearance. This can take a variety of different forms, such as breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, facelifts and liposuction, among others.
Many patients will want to undergo a cosmetic procedure because of some aspect of their personal appearance that they are unhappy with, such as fixing skew teeth or enhancing a body part or facial feature.
The key differentiating factor is that cosmetic procedures are entirely elective and, therefore, not considered to be medically necessary, even though a point could be made for the psychological benefits they afford many patients.
Notwithstanding the psychological benefits, medically unnecessary procedures are, as a rule, not covered by health insurance. As such, cosmetic patients need to find ways to fund these kinds of procedures privately.
Reconstructive Procedures
Reconstructive procedures are different from cosmetic procedures in one crucial aspect: they are considered medically necessary in many cases. They are usually carried out to rectify a physical deformity that occurred as a result of some kind of trauma, congenital defect, infection or accident.
These procedures are designed to normalise one’s appearance and/or restore functionality to certain parts of the body.
This could include things like breast augmentation/restoration following a mastectomy, cleft palate repair, skin grafts for burn victims or facial reconstruction following an accident.
As a result, medical insurance commonly covers these types of procedures since they are typically deemed medically necessary in many cases. This is particularly true if reconstructive procedures restore normal function.
If you are looking to boost your self-esteem through rectifying a long-standing physical imperfection, then you can finance a cosmetic procedure through iCREDIT by applying for cosmetic loans. Contact us to get started!