# Insurance coverage for thyroidectomy



## thyroid_board_user (Jan 31, 2013)

Hello,

I just wished to take your opinion on whether thyroid surgery is covered under insurance ? Someone I know was recently suggested to undergo thyroid surgery due to a suspicious nodule. They have insurance through her husband's employer, and just wish to make sure the surgery would be covered ?

Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you.


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## joplin1975 (Jul 21, 2011)

Mine certainly was.


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## Andros (Aug 26, 2009)

thyroid_board_user said:


> Hello,
> 
> I just wished to take your opinion on whether thyroid surgery is covered under insurance ? Someone I know was recently suggested to undergo thyroid surgery due to a suspicious nodule. They have insurance through her husband's employer, and just wish to make sure the surgery would be covered ?
> 
> ...


They need to check their policy, call their agent and if necessary, call the company before proceeding.


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## thyroid_board_user (Jan 31, 2013)

Andros said:


> They need to check their policy, call their agent and if necessary, call the company before proceeding.


Thanks for the reply.

Just wondering if it is a good idea generally to call the insurance company on your own beforehand to check (any chance it can raise any red flag?, or do any harm in any way), or is it better to let the surgeon's office contact them (I guess surgeon's office will contact them at most only 1-2 days prior to the surgery ?).

Appreciate everyone's help and replies.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

Mine was. You are always able to phone ahead and find out what will be covered. There are case numbers that they will give you.

I had my gall bladder out last year and found out that it was completely covered only to receive a bill for $650 for anesthesia. I phoned the insurance and they told me that the doctor was out of network but that it had been preapproved it would be covered and that they didn't expect me to have it done without anesthesia.


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## brookshire (Nov 28, 2012)

thyroid_board_user said:


> Thanks for the reply.
> 
> Just wondering if it is a good idea generally to call the insurance company on your own beforehand to check.


I work in health insurance and the answer is yes. Call the insurance company as soon as the doctor suggests the surgery. They may have a rule requiring a second opinion or other hoops you have to jump through. Take careful notes. Some of the for-profit insurers will deny claims for piddily little mistakes. Challenge them if they do before you pay anything.

If your policy covers surgery and hospitalization, etc. it should cover even elective thyroid surgery providing you've jumped through all the hoops. You may have a deductible and/or coinsurance or co-pays. If the deductible is more than $3,000 the insurer may not have a lot left to pay depending on whether or not the patient is kept overnight.


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## thyroid_board_user (Jan 31, 2013)

brookshire said:


> I work in health insurance and the answer is yes. Call the insurance company as soon as the doctor suggests the surgery. They may have a rule requiring a second opinion or other hoops you have to jump through. Take careful notes. Some of the for-profit insurers will deny claims for piddily little mistakes. Challenge them if they do before you pay anything.
> 
> If your policy covers surgery and hospitalization, etc. it should cover even elective thyroid surgery providing you've jumped through all the hoops. You may have a deductible and/or coinsurance or co-pays. If the deductible is more than $3,000 the insurer may not have a lot left to pay depending on whether or not the patient is kept overnight.


Thank you. I get your points. Both, my question and your response, are applicable to insurance coverage generally (not just to thyroid surgery). Seems like it is always a good idea to check beforehand on your own, for the kind of reasons you mention (PS: I am an immigrant, and have not had much prior high expense medical expenditure, so trying to figure out the best way to proceed). Thanks again.

Thanks to everyone else as well for sharing the opinions. Any more thoughts are still appreciated.


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## webster2 (May 19, 2011)

I have found my insurance company to be quite helpful.


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