Health plan may cover varicose vein treatment

I work on my feet all day.  By the end of the day, my varicose veins are throbbing and painful.  Someone told me that our health plan won’t pay for varicose vein treatment.  Why not?  I did a search on the Internet and it would cost thousands of dollars – which I could never afford.  I don’t know what to do.

Sore Legs

Dear Sore Legs,

Health plans will cover services that are medically necessary. Some plans have specific requirements for covering treatment for varicose veins. Other plans consider treatment to be cosmetic, and therefore not medically needed.  It’s possible that the person who told you it wasn’t covered had spider veins, and not varicose veins.  So for him or her, the treatment was not medically needed.  Don’t let their experience talk you out of pursuing it.

Your doctor may already be familiar with your plan and its requirements. If not, you can call the plan and ask.

Linda Riddell

About Linda Riddell

A published author and health policy analyst with 25 years’ experience, Linda Riddell's goal is to alleviate the widespread ailment of not knowing what your health plan can do for you.