Is laser resurfacing covered by insurance?

Booking a laser resurfacing visit and sorting out the insurance claim afterward is the mistake this question invites. Done in that order, it can leave you holding a bill you never planned for.

What the coverage answer actually is

Here is what my.clevelandclinic.org says on coverage. Insurance does not cover laser resurfacing because it is an elective cosmetic surgery.

The cautious reading is to plan as if you will pay yourself. The reason sits in the sentence: coverage is tied to the procedure being elective and cosmetic, not to how much the skin bothers you. A reader who assumes a plan will make an exception is gambling with a deposit.

Do not rule on your own exception

Do not decide by yourself that your case is the exception. Ask a trained clinician what the treatment is meant to change, then ask your plan administrator directly, and get both answers before you pay anything.

If you want to understand the procedure before that conversation, Laser Skin Resurfacing | The Aesthetic Society is a reasonable place to start. For the money side, the page on laser resurfacing benefits, side effects and average cost is worth reading with a calculator open. Readers weighing sun damage can compare it with how dermatologists treat sun-damaged skin, and those comparing options can look at other wrinkle treatments.

Settle the cost before the laser

A cosmetic procedure paid for on the hope that coverage will appear is an expensive guess. Confirm the cost and the coverage question in writing before you commit, and treat any appointment booked ahead of that answer as a risk you chose.