Will Insurance Pay For A New Facelift?

Q: Dr. Eppley, Twenty years ago, I had a facelift done. Until six months ago, all was well. However, for some time, I have noticed that along my hairline, little “slits: appeared followed by something quite hard. Recently, my face has begun to drop dramatically to the point I’m embarrassed to be in public. The comparative pictures are unbelievable. I have Medicare and Tricare for Life. Is there any possibility insurance would cover the repair or for a new facelift? I’m desperate at this point. 

A: Twenty years is a tremendous amount of time to get the benefits of a facelift. Most facelifts have largely degraded and the benefits lost by ten to twelve years after the procedure. I have no idea what the issue is with the ‘slits’ /hard knots in the hairline. Although most plastic surgeons use dissolvable sutures for their facelifts, your surgeon may have placed permanent sutures deep and they may be working their way to the surface after so many years. That would be the only explanation I could fathom for their presentation. No medical insurance is going to pay for facelift surgery. This is a purely cosmetic procedure that is paid for upfront undoubtably just like it was twenty years ago.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana