So, yeah, it can become quite a problem.' Always a struggle 'It creates areas of moisture under the folds of the skin and that can create skin irritation and chafing and that kind of thing. When someone loses a lot of weight, the hanging skin can present problems, said Husain. And the skin doesn't have time to adapt, so the skin just becomes very loose afterwards.' 'When you do these surgeries, you're basically limiting the amount of caloric intake, which then leads to rapid weight loss, especially the body fat. He said excess skin is a common result of severe and rapid weight loss after gastric surgeries like bypass or sleeve. He said the worst area is his lower abdomen, not shown in this photo. Tom Smith was left with folds of loose skin after losing nearly 300 pounds following gastric sleeve surgery. Husain estimates the cost of the initial procedure to remove the excess skin between $10,000 and $15,000, and the followup cosmetic surgery to contour the skin and minimize scarring would be about the same. … We want everything to look good after.' Removal costs at least $10,000 We want to get the best result possible with the nicest scar and the nicest result.

'Because when we do something, we want to do it perfectly. 'As a plastic surgeon, that makes my skin crawl doing that,' he said. When Medicare does pay, said Husain, it only pays for the medically necessary portion of the surgery. They can't, you know, get up and walk because they have such a big overhang of skin or they're getting recurrent infections or wounds developing in the skin, that kind of thing.' I would say that probably it only becomes medically necessary when it gets to the point where the person can't function. 'It's not really clear-cut that this is absolutely medically necessary. Ali Husain said in most cases, the surgery is not considered medically necessary. (Submitted by Tom Smith)ĭieppe plastic surgeon Dr. Tom Smith just before his gastric sleeve surgery and four months after. Smith said his doctor forwarded the referral to Medicare, but he's never heard anything back.

'In the event there is reasonable doubt as to the Medicare coverage of a proposed surgery, medical practitioners are required to apply to Medicare for consideration prior to rendering a service to determine the coverage status.' 'Most weight-loss-skin removal surgeries are not eligible for payment unless the excess skin causes medical problems. 'Surgeries performed for cosmetic purposes are not entitled services under Medicare,' according to an emailed response from Sean Hatchard, a spokesperson with the Department of Health. I guarantee that.'Īnd if they do end with up folds of loose skin, Smith wants people to know that followup surgery is rarely covered by Medicare - as the original surgery is. 'Don't think that just because you lose the weight you're not gonna have extra skin because you will have some no matter what. Tom Smith said the low-hanging folds of skin from his abdomen cause discomfort, irritation and even pain.

Belly skin removal surgery cost