Sliding Genioplasty

Q: Dr. Eppley, I am in need of a sliding genioplasty to treat sleep apnea. Can a sliding genioplasty be billed to insurance at all?

A: The question that you are asking is whether insurance will pay for your sliding genioplasty as a medical necessity for your sleep apnea. That is not an unreasonable question but one that can only be determined by the submission of a predetemination letter to your insurance carrier. To do this requires the following information to be submitted:

1) Pictures (which you have)

2) Sleep study results that show you have a high AHI

3) X-rays which show a short jaw.

Once I have this information then a pre letter can be submitted. Only the insurance company can make the decision for approval or denial for the sliding genioplasty but they must have all of the required information for you to have any shot at all of potential coverage.

As an aside, I am not aware that a sliding genioplasty is a primary procedure for improving sleep apnea. It may offer some mld improvement but major skeletal advancement through maxillomandibular osteotomies is usually what is required to make a major improvement in severe sleep apnea problems. A sliding genioplasty is an anterior pull procedure while maxillomandibular osteotomies are a push procedure which is more effective for opening the airway.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana