Author Topic: Has anyone ever gotten ins to pay for surgery?  (Read 818 times)

Offline nomad30

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Is it even possible to get them to pay some? I am under the care of an endocrinologist and suffer from higher than normal estrogen, which I am currently being treated for with Arimidex. Obviously the goal is no more breast tissue, but that will not make whats already there go away. I have United healthcare btw. I've read stories of people getting Tricare to pay for it, as well as NHS overseas, but I have never heard of anyone getting US based private insurance to pay unless it involves cancer, and even then the law requiring that only covers women I believe.

Offline 42CSurprise!

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It is clear that from a medical perspective, the fact we have a hormonal environment that leads to fleshy chests is not a problem.  The problem is we're often very unhappy with our situation and want to change it.  Yes, we can pursue hormone replacement therapy to increase testosterone but as you note, that won't remove breasts already developed.  Insurance companies aren't inclined to pay for breast implants or to reduce the size of someone's nose, so performing what is essentially a mastectomy on men who don't have cancer is not covered.  We understand that our hormone balance can be affected by drugs we take but beyond that it is really what nature has provided us.  We all sit on a gender continuum from feminine to masculine.  It seems those of us who develop breasts are on the more feminine side of the continuum.  That is what estrogen does for us...  This is much discussed on the Acceptance side of this website.  Many of us have softer, more curvaceous bodies.  Removing breasts won't change that and as we've learned, surgery can potentially create other problems and isn't guaranteed to keep us from developing breasts as we age.  The Mayo Clinic, in discussing gynecomastia lists "aging" as one of the causes.  So we all have a decision to make... pay a great deal of money to pay for a mastectomy or learn to accept the bodies nature has given us.  Good luck sorting it all out.

Gino

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42C, that was a great reply and they're my feelings also. 

Whatever your decision is, good luck Nomad 

Offline nomad30

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Guys,

I did find this document from United. There is a word for these documents, and every carrier has then, but this is mine for UHC. Looks like pretty much zero chance of them covering it. Thans for your help.

Brdy64

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I have a doctor friend in California that told me some California insurances do cover mastectomies if the breasts are causing severe emotional distress.
He was implying that if I wanted mine removed I could move there.
Even though I spent most of my life hating my breasts and hiding them, when I was faced with breasts cancer in 1989 I went with a lumpectomy instead of insisting on a mastectomy.
They didn't offer it to me, so I went with what was advised.
Surgery won't fix the feminine body curves that most of us have developed, or the hormonal imbalances. It won't fix the emotional aspects that our hormones put us through either.
I guess for some surgery seems the "only way out", but for me accepting my body for what it "is" rather than what society deems it "should be" was my smarter choice.
We are all different. I can say that medical benefits vary from state to state, even county to county. If surgery is that important to you then keep researching.
As for me I love my body just the way it is. 😉
« Last Edit: April 19, 2023, 07:56:44 AM by Brdy64 »


 

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