Will my Health Insurance pay for Breast Implants?

Not many (if any) Health Insurance policies cover payments for breast implants for cosmetic purposes.  However, it may be that policies will cover breast implantsif they are required for reconstruction following surgical procedures carried out due to (covered) disease or illness.

Health Insurance companies apparently do not like breast implants.  Many companies will not even insure women with implants, nor any diseases or illnesses related to implants.  In some cases, they will not even cover diseases in women’s chest areas if they have breast implants, even if the illness is not related to the implants.

Breast implants actually have a long (and somewhat sordid) history, beginning sometime in the late 1800’s; and for some of the same reasons as today.  A myriad of materials were experimented with in the years that followed, including paraffin injections, ivory, ox cartilage, polyethylene chips, ground rubber, glass balls, teflon-silicone, and more.  Needless to say, many, if not all of these substances proved unsatisfactory at best. 

Modern breast implants are typically of the saline or silicone gel varieties.  Saline implants are essentially a thick walled, balloon-like sac that is inserted inside the breast tissue through a small incision; then saline solution is injected into the sac to expand the sac within the breast.   Silicone gel implants are pre-filled (with silicone gel, of course) prosthesis devices which are implanted inside the breast through an incision somewhat larger than that required for the saline implants.

Technology and research continues to experiment with various materials and combinations of materials, and one of the latest is what is known as the gummy-bear implant, due to its consistency being similar to the popular chewy candies.

Perhaps at some future time when biological research advances breast augmentation to the point where women learn how to grow their own breast enhancements (could it really be?), things may be different.  For now, implants are mostly “out of pocket”, I think.