Your BridgeSpan weight loss surgery insurance coverage depends on several factors, all of which are reviewed below.
First, try our insurance tool to quickly check your insurance coverage:
Read and click below for additional weight loss surgery insurance details.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Click on any of the topics below to jump directly to that section
SECTION SUMMARY:
- 35+ Body Mass Index (BMI)
- Documentation of failed diet attempts
- Psychological evaluation
READ THIS FIRST
Even if your insurance company covers bariatric surgery in some plans, that does not mean that your specific plan covers it. The obesity surgery approval requirements in this section assume that weight loss surgery is covered by your specific policy.
To confirm whether your specific policiy covers bariatric surgery, click here to contact a surgeon and ask for a free insurance check.
Disclaimer: The information contained on this page may not include all components of your insurance company’s medical policy and/or may not be up to date. Contact your insurance company to confirm all benefits.
In order to be approved by BridgeSpan for bariatric surgery in the United States, you must meet the following criteria:
- Be age 18 or older
- Diagnosis of Morbid obesity, defined as
- a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 40
- BMI 35 – 39.9 AND one of the following
- Diabetes mellitus
- Hypertension
- Coronary artery disease
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Documentation of active participation for at least 6 months in a structured, medically supervised nonsurgical weight reduction program. A comprehensive commercial weight loss program is an acceptable program component, but it must be approved and monitored under the supervision of the healthcare practitioner providing medical oversight. Comprehensive weight loss programs generally address diet, exercise and behavior modification, e.g., Weight Watchers. Documentation from the clinical medical records must indicate that the structured medical supervision meets all of the following criteria:
- Occur during at least 6 consecutive months within the 24 months prior to the request for surgery
- Include at least three visits for medical supervision, occurring at intervals of no longer than four months apart, e.g., at the start, middle and end of the 6-month weight loss program
- Be provided by an MD, DO, NP, PA, or RD under the supervision of an MD, DO, NP, or PA
- Include assessment and counseling concerning weight, diet, exercise, and behavior modification
- Preoperative evaluation to include both of the following:
- A licensed psychologist, psychiatrist, LCSW/LICSW, Licensed Masters level counselor, or NP in a behavioral health practice, documents the absence of significant psychopathology that can limit an individual’s understanding of the procedure or ability to comply with medical/surgical recommendations:
- Active substance abuse
- Eating disorders
- Schizophrenia
- Borderline personality disorder
- Uncontrolled depression
Or
Use this BMI Calculator to check your body mass index…
Revision Requirements
Reoperation may be considered medically necessary if one of the following conditions is met:
- Reoperation with revision of a bariatric procedure (i.e. adjustable gastric band, gastric bypass, or sleeve gastrectomy) or adjustable gastric band removal may be considered medically necessary when one or more of the following documented significant complications is present:
- Bowel perforation, including band erosion
- Band migration (slippage), that cannot be corrected with manipulation or adjustment
- Leak
- Obstruction
- Staple-line failure
- Weight loss to 80% or less of ideal body weight
- Band infection
If Your Policy Does NOT Cover It: Seek Partial Coverage
You may be able to get part of the costs paid for by insurance even if weight loss surgery isn’t covered. It’s all about how your doctor and hospital submit your claims to your insurance company.
For example, there are many non-bariatric surgery reasons for your doctor to recommend:
- Cardiology exam
- Lab work
- Medically supervised diet program
- Psychological exam
- Sleep study
These are ordered for many reasons other than bariatric surgery and may be covered as a result. If your doctor submits one of these claims using a weight loss surgery CPT code (Current Procedural Terminology Code), your insurance is unlikely to cover it. But if your doctor uses a general CPT code, it probably will be covered.
While this may sound “sneaky”, it is an ethical practice. After all, these tests will be beneficial regardless of whether you move forward with surgery.
BridgeSpan Contact Information and Full Medical Policy on Bariatric Surgery
- By Phone: 1 (855) 857-9944
- Contact BridgeSpan
- Full Bariatric Surgery Medical Policy for BridgeSpan
SECTION SUMMARY:
- Coverage Through Your Employer
- Individual & Family Plans
- Medicare
Before getting into the types of insurance plans, you can cut to the chase by contacting a local bariatric surgeon’s office. Most surgeons will contact your insurance company for free to confirm whether or not you’re covered.
Click here to find a local surgeon and ask them to check your insurance for you for free.
BridgeSpan does cover weight loss surgery, but your specific policy must include it in order for you get it covered.
Following are a list of BridgeSpan plan types and whether they cover bariatric surgery:
Weight Loss Surgery for Health Plans Through Your Work
If you work for a company that has 50 or more full time employees, it is completely up to your employer to decide whether or not to cover bariatric surgery under your health plan.
To find out whether weight loss surgery is covered by your employer’s plan, you have a few options:
- Your local surgeon will usually be willing check your insurance for free. Click here to find a surgeon near you, then call or email them to request a free insurance review.
- Ask your Human Resources department
- Contact your insurance company directly using the phone number on your insurance ID card
Weight Loss Surgery for Individual/Family Plans
The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) requires all individual and small group plans (less than 50 full time employees) to include weight loss surgery coverage as long as it is considered an “Essential Health Benefit” in your state.
The following states DO currently consider bariatric surgery an Essential Health Benefit (bariatric surgery is covered by all individual, family and small group plans in these states):
Your State Not on the List?
If your state is NOT on the list, then weight loss surgery is probably NOT covered under your plan.
First, contact your local surgeon to be sure. For no charge, their office will contact your insurance company on your behalf to work through the details.
If your surgeon confirms that your policy does not include obesity surgery, you still have several options for making surgery more affordable. See these pages for more information:
- Weight Loss Surgery Insurance Secrets: Revised List (good tips even if your policy does not include bariatric surgery)
- Financing bariatric surgery (all of your options)
- Arizona
- California
- Delaware
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Iowa
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Rhode Island
- South Dakota
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Regardless of whether your state is on the list, contact a qualified surgeon to request a free insurance check to verify your coverage.
To review your insurance company’s obesity surgery coverage requirements, click here to jump back up the page.
Weight Loss Surgery for Medicare Plans
All Medicare plans are required to cover the following weight loss surgery procedures:
- Gastric sleeve surgery
- Gastric bypass surgery
- Gastric banding (lap band surgery) (LASGB)
- Duodenal switch surgery (DS)
- Biliopancreatic diversion surgery (BPD)
However, special Medicare-specific criteria apply. Click here to learn more about Medicare bariatric surgery coverage.
SECTION SUMMARY:
- Gastric Sleeve
- Gastric Bypass
- Lap-Band
- Duodenal Switch
Please see below for the procedures BridgeSpan covers, might cover under certain circumstances, and those that are not covered under any circumstances:
Procedures That ARE Covered
Procedures That MIGHT BE Covered
The following procedures MIGHT BE covered by BridgeSpan:
- Revision Surgery (either Lap-Band Revision or Gastric Bypass Revision)
Procedures That Are NOT Covered
The following procedures are NOT covered by BridgeSpan:
- Duodenal Switch
- Gastric Balloon
- AspireAssist
- Vertical Banded Gastroplasty
- Mini Gastric Bypass Surgery
- Distal gastric bypass
- Biliopancreatic bypass (i.e., the Scopinaro procedure)
- Laparoscopic duodenal switch with single anastomosis
- Two-stage bariatric surgery procedures (e.g., sleeve gastrectomy followed by gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy followed by biliopancreatic diversion)
- Adjustable gastric banding with existing gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy, or other bariatric surgical procedure
- Parietal cell separating gastrojejunostomy
- Laparoscopic gastric plication
- StomaphyX procedure
- ROSE procedure
- EndoCinch
- EndoSurgical Operating System
- Sclerotherapy of stoma
- Endoscopic gastroplasty
- Endoscopically placed duodenal-jejunal sleeve
- Endoscopic stoma revision
SECTION SUMMARY:
- General Appeal Instructions
- Appeal Details Specific to Premera Blue Cross
If BridgeSpan denies your weight loss surgery claim and you think it should be covered, consider filing an appeal.
Our Health Insurance Appeals page will get you started, then head over to the Disputes & Appeals page for BridgeSpan to learn how to proceed.
SECTION SUMMARY:
- Ask for a free insurance check or cost quote
- Attend a free seminar or webinar
- Schedule a phone or in-person consultation (both often free)
Search the weight loss surgeon directory below to ask a surgeon about a free insurance check by country and region: