Episode 22: Is Breast Explant Surgery Covered by Insurance?

Foreign.

Dr. Rob Whitfield, the board certified plastic surgeon.

Specializing in explant surgery.

Breast implant illness is a topic that is not often talked enough about, especially in medical community, but is something that affects many women. In this podcast I'll be discussing the latest research, treatment options and personal stories of women who have undergone explant surgery in an effort to heal breast implant illness. In this podcast, we'll explore the symptoms of breast implant illness and delve into the latest surgical techniques for explantation and the recovery process. Whether you are currently experiencing breast implant illness or are considering explant surgery, this podcast is a valuable resource for anyone.

Looking to take control of their health and wellness.

So let's dive in. Before we get started today, I wanted.

To tell you about a way you can speed your healing and to begin.

Reverse aging in your body.

Reducing inflammation is especially important for women with breast implant illness. In fact, one of the most important pre explant surgery steps we take is to get rid of as much inflammation in the body as possible. So I've created a special inflammation support bundle to give you everything you need to reduce inflammation as quickly as possible. Don't let inflammation hold you back. Visit drrobsolutions.com now and grab the inflammation support bundle today again, you can get it@drrobsolutions.com hey, it's Dr. Robert Whitfield.

Welcome to my Breast Implant Illness podcast.

Today we're going to discuss the question.

Is breast explant surgery covered by insurance?

And we get asked this question routinely.

And currently breast implant illness does not.

Have an ICD10 diet code, which is International Classification of Disease code. So from coding it's hard to get this covered because it's not recognized. Typically what we use for the ICD10 code for this is breast pain, because that's indicative of this issue. Many of my patients, if not all of them, have experienced breast pain at one time or another. And for us, the explant surgery is indicated when patients are suffering from breast implant illness or capture contracture or pain associated with the device, whether it's nerve pain or breast pain in general, Certainly there are costs in this setting of the facility where you can do procedure, the anesthesia for the procedure and the the costs of the surgeon's fees. And for an insurance company to cover this, you have to show medical necessity. I haven't had this covered routinely. So we used to provide basic letters of medical necessity and that became problematic. Insurers would come back to us and really wonder, you know, what are you doing this for? Why are you doing this? It became complicated and in 2019, in the fourth quarter we wound down my reconstructive practice and went basically in 2020, right before COVID you know, to a purely cash based practice.

We'll get back to this show in a moment, but I wanted to share something that I think can really help you. You might not be aware, but part of my work as an innovator in the cosmetic surgery space is to create products that will give my patients the best possible outcomes and restore their health.

As quickly as possible.

I can't tell you how critical it is for all of my patients to actively work to reduce inflammation in their bodies. We do this through diet and supplementation. In fact, I've created a special inflammation support bundle for my patients and now you can have access to it as well. One of the reasons this bundle is perfect for my patients is that so many of them have pill fatigue. It's just not going to work for them to have a handful of pills.

Each day to reduce inflammation.

So I made sure to include the liposomal version of many of the vitamins and minerals within the bundle. You'll still get the full absorption of these supplements in your mouth without having to go through your gut first in.

Order to be absorbed.

You can get the inflammation support bundle@drrobsolutions.com and begin to feel better when you make the supplements a part of your daily health routine. The website again is drrobsolutions.com I can't wait for you to get this help in your hands.

I had people who had self administer plans be able to get reimbursement and those are rare because most plans are not self administered, they're through large companies. So that takes us to how is someone going to manage to prepare for and get this done for themselves when it's an out of pocket procedure? And obviously there's utilizing financing, which is not uncommon. We use patient fire routinely. We use Alli routinely for financing. These are companies that work with our patients to provide very good options for financing. You can work with your tax strategist and advisors to see if any of this can be written off of your taxes as medical expenses as well. Now obviously it's challenging to get things funded all the time in these more complicated financial times. So getting support and counseling from your financial advisor and or other patient groups who advocate for explants and helping kind of navigate that, certainly if someone's not capable of the costs associated with explant surgery, there are ways to work in our program such as harp to get started, whether it's on the appropriate supplements or the testing that would help elucidate other factors contributing to inflammation, and work in that program while simultaneously preparing for the financial investment of the cost of the procedure itself. But the most important thing is to actually get started on that journey and learn as much as you can about say, for instance in our situation. You know, we guide patients to understand their own systemic inflammation and it's not carefully considered enough probably in the allopathic community. How best to enlighten, you know, our patients about their own inflammation using testing, especially functional medicine testing and toxicity testing and hormone testing and genetic testing and food sensitivity testing versus just serum blood tests that identify liver and kidney function and blood counts and things of that nature. So there are ways to get started that aren't all about having surgery in the beginning, as you can figure out your journey how that looks to you. Before we wrap up today, don't forget.

To head over to the DrRobSolutions.com and pick up the Inflammation Support bundle. I've put this bundle together after working with thousands of women with breast implant.

Illness who wanted explant surgery.

Reducing inflammation is always the first step we take. Now I'm offering the same solution to you, so go to Drrobsolutions.com and get yours today.

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you found the information and stories shared on this podcast helpful and informative. Remember, taking control of your health and wellness is key to recovery from breast implant illness. If you're looking for additional resources and support, be sure to visit our online store, Dr. Rob's Solutions at drrobsolutions.myshopify.com you'll find a wide range of, well, wellness products and supplements to support your journey to recovery. From specially formulated detox supplements to personalized skincare products, we have everything you need to aid your recovery.

Visit Dr.

Rob's Solutions today at DrRobsSolutions.com thank you for listening and we'll be back with another episode soon. Remember, you're not alone in this journey and together we can overcome breast implant illness.

Take care of Sam.