Varicose Veins Insurance Coverage Austin Texas
Does My Health Insurance Policy Cover Varicose Vein Treatments?
The answer is usually yes. Most health insurance policies do allow for health insurance coverage for varicose vein treatments. But each individual insurance policy is different. Your specific plan will need to be reviewed by our insurance specialists prior to assuming coverage. There are multiple factors that your insurance company will consider prior to authorizing vein treatments. Ultimately it is your physician who will determine whether your varicose vein treatments are deemed “medically necessary.” The physician then relays his opinion to your insurance provider. At Austin Vein Specialists, our experienced insurance specialists will make sure that detailed information about your condition is provided to your insurance company in order to maximize the chances that your therapy will be covered.
What Factors Will My Insurance Company Consider When Determining Vein Treatment Authorization?
Previous or Ongoing Vein Symptoms:
- Whether you are having leg pain or leg discomfort
- The frequency and severity of your leg symptoms
- Whether you are having leg swelling
- Whether you are developing skin-related complications, such as skin discoloration, skin rash/dermatitis, or scarring
- Whether you are developing leg fatigue
- Whether you are developing nerve symptoms such as numbness or weakness
- Whether you have ever developed ulcers or wounds on your ankles or feet
- Whether you have ever developed bleeding from a vein due to overlying skin thinning or skin breakdown
- Whether you have ever had blood clots
- Whether you have ever had phlebitis or inflammation of your veins
How Do the Vein Symptoms Affect Your Life:
- Whether your symptoms prevent you from working the hours you would like
- Whether your symptoms prevent you from doing household chores
- Whether your symptoms prevent you from standing or sitting for prolonged periods of time
- Whether your symptoms prevent you from exercising as much as you would like
- Do your symptoms affect your quality of life in any way
How Have You Attempted to Manage Your Vein Symptoms:
- Have you worn support stockings and compression stockings (and how often and for how long)
- Have you used medications such as anti-inflammatories, pain medication, or diuretics
- Have you regularly elevated your legs when sitting down or resting
- Have you tried to exercise regularly
- Have you maintained a normal weight or tried to lose excessive weight
Have You Been Diagnosed With Vein Disease In the Past:
- Have you previously been diagnosed with venous reflux disease or varicose veins and been treated for it
- What type of vein treatments have you undergone in the past
- What type of relief did you get from those previous treatments
- Did you develop recurrent varicose veins or leg symptoms following previous therapy
How Severe Are Your Leg Veins on Physical Exams By the Doctor:
- How many varicose veins do you have and how large are they
- Do you have evidence of skin damage, skin rash, or skin pigmentation
- Do you have any skin wounds or ulcers
- Do you have any evidence of ongoing blood clots or phlebitis
- Do you have any tissue swelling of the legs, ankle, or feet
Did You Have an Ultrasound of Your Leg Veins and What Did the Ultrasound Demonstrate:
- Did your ultrasound demonstrate venous reflux disease (and if so, how severe and in what anatomic location(s) in the leg)
- Did your ultrasound demonstrate any evidence of blood clots or phlebitis
- What did your varicose veins look like on ultrasound (i.e size and anatomic location)
What Vein Treatment Plan Did Your Doctor Recommend:
- Did your vein specialist suggest interventional therapy or surgery
- Did your vein specialist suggest non-interventional therapy such as compression stockings and over-the-counter medications
- Is the particular recommended treatment a covered benefit of your particular insurance policy, or is that treatment option excluded from your policy.
Will I Have Any Out-of-Pocket Costs That My Insurance Company will Not Cover?
Possibly. Most present-day health insurance policies do not cover 100% of the cost of vein therapies. Often as a patient, you are responsible for certain costs such as copays and deductibles. In addition to copays and deductibles, there is often a percentage of the bill that the insurance automatically passes onto you. Based on most current insurance policies, it is common for patients to be responsible for 20-30% of the bill, although this has a lot of variabilities. Before any procedures are performed at Austin Vein Specialists, our health insurance specialists will determine your cost and provide you a written quote.
Will Austin Vein Specialists Accept My Health Insurance?
You will need to contact our facility to check. Although we do accept most major health care policies, there are some policies that we do not accept. A simple phone call will be able to answer that question. And YES, we do accept both Medicare and Medicaid. If we do not accept your healthcare plan, we are willing to provide a cash-pay discount or do a credit plan such as Care Credit. We do accept all major credit cards as well.
For more information, please call our Vein Center at (512) 220-5401
