If the title of this article appealed to you enough to read it, chances are you have varicose veins.
Not only that, the chances are you have been trying to “live with” your varicose veins for quite some time, trying to ignore them while hoping they don’t get worse. Well, they got worse.Now Varicose Veins have begun to cause side effects such as painfully swollen legs and ankles and constant feelings of tiredness and weakness in your legs. So you’ve been reading about modern vein treatment techniques and wondering, “Is this for me?”
Unfortunately, unless you happen to be a member of the 1% of the wealthiest Americans, this question is immediately followed by another one:Does Insurance Cover Varicose Vein Treatment?
The answer to this question is complex because there are so many different types of health insurance in America, each insurance comes with its own rules and regulations, so it is impossible to give a definitive answer that applies to everyone.
But in this article, we’ll try to provide some general information about this important healthcare and insurance-related issue.
Understanding Varicose Veins as a Medical Condition
Your insurance will probably cover any treatment that is medically needed.
Many people – including, unfortunately, some insurance companies consider varicose vein surgery a “cosmetic” procedure, and thus a form of “elective” surgery or treatment. This belief is based on a lack of information because the vein disease that causes varicose veins is very much a real disease and one that has serious consequences if it is not treated.This disease – chronic venous insufficiency, or CVI – not only impairs your circulatory system, it causes enough damage to your immune system to greatly increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, and diabetes.
This is why the Hawaii vein specialists who work in the best Vein treatment centers give every patient a thorough physical examination – it is to determine not only the status of their vein health but the status of their overall health.
Although the decision as to whether varicose vein treatment is fully covered by insurance depends on the individual patient’s case and the individual insurer, if your varicose vein doctors find evidence of CVI (or an even more dangerous disease called deep vein thrombosis, or DVT), there is an excellent chance that your insurance carrier will cover your treatment.
The reason insurance companies will do this is that removing veins damaged by vein disease improves the health of your circulatory system, and thus improves your overall health while reducing the risks of more serious (and, for an insurer, more expensive to treat) diseases. If early treatment of varicose veins is presented as preventative, and thus a way to avoid even greater expenses in the future, your health insurance company may very well pay for varicose vein removal.
Call our clinic for Assistance
At Vein Clinics of Hawaii, our staff is used to working with insurance companies to help our patients receive the best possible care while incurring the least personal cost.
Fortunately, whoever pays for treatment, won’t miss work to receive it.
One thing to factor into your calculations when dealing with your insurance company is whether the proposed treatment is going to require you to take time off from work (and thus lost income) to either have the procedure or recover from it.
Fortunately, the modern, minimally-invasive techniques used for varicose vein removal are so gentle and painless that they don’t require you to go to a hospital, and don’t require any time to “recover from.” You can have your varicose veins removed on your lunch hour, and then return to work the same day. This eliminates costs that require overnight or longer hospital stays.
Conclusion
As we suggested earlier, this is general information, and may not apply in every case because every health insurance company and every patient’s case is different.
Does insurance cover varicose veins? You should work closely with your insurance company representative representatives to determine their specific policies about varicose vein treatment in Hawaii. Dr. Randall S. Juleff and his staff will be happy to help you with this process, to help you get the care you need. Give us a call today.
