Does Health Insurance Cover Hair Transplant

According to the Congressional Research Service above 90% of the U.S. population has private or government health insurance. The total expenditures on health services reach trillions. You may wonder "Does health insurance cover hair transplant?" Some policies may or may not cover depending on whether it is a medical necessity or cosmetic procedure.

Hair Transplant And Insurance:

Usually, these insurance plans cover essential health and wellness services. However, a general rule is that the policy excludes elective and cosmetic procedures from this policy. Since hair transplantation is a cosmetic surgery, your insurer may not pay back your expenses. However, this general rule does have certain exceptions, though.  

Since such procedures are, in most cases, elective, insurance may offer coverage for other medications that may cause hair loss. Hair Transplant means pulling the hair from one place and transplanting it to other parts. Those who have started balding due to age factors and due to some incurable disease go for hair transplant surgery.

Although the procedure can be costly, it is generally safe and effective. Conversely, insurance is taken as a fiscal way out for an individual to cope with a medical expense. Insurance policies' coverage of hair transplants varies widely, creating a dilemma as to what should be expected from a particular policy regarding payment for a hair transplant. 

Furthermore, one policy may cover one expense, and another may cover another. So, no two policies are identical when it comes to coverage. You must ensure your policy covers a hair transplant before approaching your insurer for a claim.

Will your hair transplant surgery be covered?

When uncertain whether your insurer will cover hair transplant costs, your best bet may be to consult your policy regarding hair transplants. Generally speaking, health insurance policies will not reimburse cosmetic procedures that are not medically necessary to restore life. It is not considered medically required and kept outside the preview of insurance coverage.

In other words, if one does the hair transplant purely for cosmetic reasons, this procedure is unlikely to be covered by the insurance policy. On the other hand, if the hair loss is for a medical condition such as fighting alopecia or has come about as a result of chemotherapy, the procedure becomes medically necessary, thus allowing for insurance coverage. However, certain insurance companies may provide partial coverage if the surgical procedure is performed to correct an injury or illness-induced deformity.

Conditions When Health Insurance Covers Hair Transplants:

Insurers cover hair transplants in the following cases:

• Your hair loss could have happened due to your medical condition.
• You could have encountered hair loss due to an accident or burn injury. 
• The 'current issue' that you are experiencing is psychological distress related to your hair loss.

Individuals with gender dysphoria-a condition recognized as likely to cause "significant distress" by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-might receive hair transplant surgery authorized under some insurance plans. But in case the doctor finds some pending mental issue, he may refer you for psychological or therapeutic treatment before proceeding. 

For women, in those cases, one can be eligible for any hair transplant surgery when it is reconstructive rather than cosmetic or when hair loss happens through a traumatic cause. So, it is vital to make the procedure correctly termed as "medical necessity." 

When you face an accident and are experiencing trauma, you can go for a hair transplant. Since it is reconstructive more than a cosmetic procedure, it may qualify for health insurance. We can rather say that the procedure should be a medical necessity.

Types Of Insurance That Provide Cover?

Because hair transplants are usually considered elective, one may find it rare for a regular health insurance policy to include coverage for hair transplantation. For example, such medical procedures may be covered by some employer-sponsored plans. Moreover, some insurance companies sell supplemental policies specifically to cover cosmetic procedures. These policies tend to be a little higher in cost, and there also will be a waiting period before any benefits become effective. They may be considered to be the perfect option for certain people wanting to recover hair transplant costs from an insurance company.

Coverage for hair transplant benefits may not be available as included in the guidelines set by insurance policies, although they exist and you have to follow some rules for a medical procedure. That could mean obtaining the approval of your physician through a letter stating that the hair transplant is part of a medical procedure. Similarly, your plan may state that you may only obtain hair transplants from an in-network provider or at a specific location for the procedure to be refundable. You can know whether your insurance policy covers hair transplant procedures by reading your policy in detail. 

Summing Up: 

To conclude, you may get an answer to the question "Does health insurance cover hair transplant" by going through the policy in detail. In most cases, insurers exclude hair transplants as they consider them cosmetic surgery rather than corrective surgery. If it is a corrective surgery, many insurance companies reimburse the procedure cost.