Never Pay Someone to "Get Your Surgery Covered by Insurance", It's a Scam

A friend just sent me a video, and it's another one of these parasitic people preying on patients. This particular flavor targets men and women who've had massive weight loss and claims that, for a fee, they'll help you get your body contouring surgery covered by insurance.

I want to be as direct as I possibly can: do not fall victim to these people. You never, ever need to pay someone to do this for you. Let me explain exactly why this is a scam.

Here's the core truth these scammers don't want you to know: getting your surgery covered by insurance is something your plastic surgeon does for you at no charge.

If your plastic surgeon works with insurance, we handle the whole process as part of taking care of you:

• We do the billing for you
• We do the pre-authorization for you
• We know the codes and submit everything correctly

We do not charge you for that part. You're only ever charged for the procedure itself, not for the paperwork and advocacy that get it covered.

This isn't reluctant charity, it's in everyone's interest. For many patients, most patients, insurance coverage is the key to being able to afford surgery at all. If you can't get covered, a lot of people simply can't proceed.

So we want you to get covered, because we want to be able to take care of you. We're invested in you having your surgery. That's why we put in the work on pre-authorizations and appeals without adding a fee for it, our goals are aligned with yours. (If you're wondering how this all works in practice, I've explained how plastic surgeons and insurance actually interact and how insurance coverage works for these procedures.)

Maybe you're thinking: my surgeon is out-of-network, or they don't do the billing for me, so maybe I DO need one of these services. Still no.

Even if your plastic surgeon is out-of-network or doesn't submit the billing on your behalf, they will still, for free:

• Give you the codes you need
• Help you through the insurance process
• Give you advice on how to pursue coverage

There is genuinely nothing these paid "coverage specialists" know or can do that your plastic surgeon won't do better, and for free. They're selling you access to information and effort you're already entitled to at no cost. It's the same con energy as other schemes that dress up free or worthless things as valuable, and like the product-liability outfits that prey on patients, it works by making you feel like the system is too complicated to navigate without paying a middleman.

If you've had massive weight loss and want your body contouring (like a panniculectomy) covered:

1. Talk to a real plastic surgeon who works with insurance
2. Let them handle the pre-authorization and billing, at no extra charge
3. If they're out-of-network, ask them for the codes and guidance, they'll give it to you free
4. Do not pay any third party claiming they'll unlock coverage for a fee

And for what it's worth: I've made videos in the past walking through the codes and the process, and I'll keep doing it, because this information should be free and accessible. If you want the codes, I'll give them to you for nothing.

The people charging you to "get your weight-loss surgery covered by insurance" are running a scam. Everything they promise, the codes, the pre-authorization, the billing, the advice, is something your plastic surgeon already does for you for free, because we're genuinely invested in you being able to have your surgery. Even an out-of-network surgeon will hand you the codes and guide you at no charge.

You never need to pay a middleman for insurance coverage. Please don't let these people scam you.