money is the issue

[ddave]

First time poster, gyno suffer for 30years.
Have looked into having surgery done, the cost would be about $5,300 cash or $5,700 with credit card or financing. Since i am a divorced father with kids i have a lot of demands on my money. Would like to know if anyone has challenged their insurance company to have them pay for this surgey? If they only knew the emotional pain this causes me and that its not because im vain. Any infomation would be appreciated.

[Bradley07]

well, i hate to be so blunt, but quite frankly the insurance companies don't give a darn about your emotional pain. sucks, doesn't it?  only the greedy insurance companies could think that a man suffering severe psychological/emotional pain as a result of having breasts--having breasts!!!!-- and needing an operation to correct it--is something "not medically necessary".

i'm just so disillusioned with insurance. everyone talked about how my Blue Cross/Shield plan was so great and do you know that they have never paid anything for me. nothing. and i pay soooo much each month for the insurance. it's ridiculous.  

anyway, no personally i've never heard of anyone actually getting their insurance to pay. there's a section about insurance on the main page of this site. the doc says that only 1 patient that he has known has had his insurance say that they would pay--and the doc STILL is waiting for payment.

[headheldhigh01]

actually there have been just a handful of cases, but they are the exception and not the rule.  you have to really dig into the details and find hooks like psychological damage and function etc., and it's a tough fight.  i think, since an op is expensive, they're also worried about how many potential cases there could be out there to cover.  

[Warlord]

Unfortunately, that's exactly true: insurance coverage is the undeniable exception and not the rule.  Personally, I know of NO ONE who has been successful in having their insurance company cover a gynecomastic surgery.  

I'm in the same boat as you, brother, except I'm married.  Money is a HUGE issue, especially when you have a family and all the bills that come with it.  I know how lucky I am to have the actual window in the foreseeable future to get this done.  I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a divorcee.  

Hang in there...