Plastic surgery: What could go wrong? CosmetAssure thanks you for asking. A number of complications can occur as a result of plastic surgery, and CosmetAssure recognizes 15 of them.
For instance, it's not uncommon for the skin around a surgical site to bubble after liposuction, a tummy tuck, or breast reconstruction; the result of serous fluid -- benign, colorless, found in our body cavities -- pooling. Sometimes this fluid is naturally reabsorbed; sometimes it results in a serious infection, a feverish feeling, a trip to the hospital, a bill for $10,000 that covers the luxury of having infected fluid drained from your wherever. Or you can just pay a few hundred bucks up front for the luxury of not having to spiral through worst-case financial scenarios.
Complications, or medical events that occur as a direct result of surgical intervention, happen in just under 1% of plastic surgery procedures performed in the United States, according to data collated by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) between 1997 and 2017. In other words, if 1.5 million people get something done in a plastic surgeon's office this year, as many as 150,000 could encounter a freak reaction as small as a fluid pool or as serious as a heart attack. These reactions will cost them, in more ways than one: A number of recent studies, mostly focusing on complications treated in the US resulting from procedures abroad, put the possible financial burden anywhere between $10,000 and $150,000.
"Most major insurance providers have a line in their policy that says, 'If you choose to have out-of-pocket surgery and then you have complications, we are not responsible for those financial costs,'" explains Chris Pannucci, MD, MS, a board-certified plastic surgeon at Plastic Surgery Northwest in Spokane. "Sometimes there is some leeway, but there's no guarantee. And that's precisely where a cosmetic surgery insurance program becomes relevant."
Dr. Pannucci is one of just under 1,000 surgeons in the United States who offer complication insurance with CosmetAssure. From when a procedure occurs to 45 days thereafter, CosmetAssure will cover complication costs for inpatient or outpatient services, ambulance rides, follow-ups, laboratory tests to rule out deep vein thrombosis, or other related expenses. Since its incorporation in 2003, CosmetAssure has covered some $30 million in claims, according to Amy Fuqua, a program director with the company.
If you are planning to, say, get breast implants, you cannot call CosmetAssure and purchase coverage yourself. CosmetAssure is available only to board-certified plastic surgeons who are also members of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons or the Aesthetic Society. Surgeons enrolled in CosmetAssure automatically insure all of their patients and every procedure. The cost usually nets out to between $100 and $300, a line item on your surgical check. In turn, the premium owed by the surgeon is calculated by the type and quantity of procedures performed in a month, which are themselves categorized by insurance providers as standard or non-standard.