If you’ve been considering bariatric surgery, such as LAP-BAND®, Gastric Sleeve, or Gastric Bypass, but are concerned about the cost, don’t forget about your Flexible Spending Account (FSA) as a means of covering your weight loss surgery expenses. You may also be able to use your FSA to cover other procedures offered by Nicholson Clinic, including hernia and GERD repair and endoscopic procedures.
For a complete list of eligible FSA expenses, click here.
If your employer offers a flexible spending plan for healthcare expenses, you can set aside up to $2,550 in 2015 (up from $2,500 in 2014) to spend on numerous medical treatments and procedures, including medications and medical equipment. Weight loss programs are listed among eligible expenses for a FSA.
Eligible weight loss expenses covered by the FSA include any weight loss programs for obesity treatment if prescribed by a physician to treat a medical condition — this includes weight loss surgery — and weight loss and dietary supplements.
If you have unused funds left in your FSA from 2014, you may be able to carry over a portion of those funds, or receive a grace period to use them up in 2015. These rules were implemented in 2014, but will be more widely adopted by employers in 2015. Employers have the option of offering employees a $500 carryover in unused health FSA funds into the following year; or employers can offer their employees a two-and-a-half month grace period to use their FSA funds from the previous year. Employers cannot offer both options, and are not required to offer either, so talk to your employer’s human resources department to find out which, if any, extensions apply to you.
Nicholson Clinic is committed to preventing finances from limiting any patients from receiving life-changing weight loss surgery. In order to best serve all of our patients, we offer a number of payment options, including: traditional cash payments; payment plans and financing through the CareCard® (approval required); and insurance coverage.
Patients who plan to self-pay for their weight loss procedure can find a procedure cost list to plan cash payments here.
For information on our payment plans and financing with CareCard®, click here.
In many cases, bariatric surgery is considered a medical necessity and is at least partially covered by most insurance companies, provided the patient meets their requirements. The Nicholson Clinic accepts most major insurance. Our team of insurance specialists will help you manage the process, working directly with your insurance provider to acquire approval. For more information on insurance coverage for your weight loss procedure, click here.
