Welcome to BeauCoup Phaces Wigs & Hair Extensions Medical Wig Insurance Coverage Guide! This section is for clients who are purchasing a wig for medical purposes. Can insurance help purchase a wig? The answer is yes, but it takes a bit of work to find out if you’re qualified
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Can Health Insurance Cover the Cost of Your Medical Wig?
Are you experiencing temporary or permanent hair loss from illness or genetics? Very few people know this, but when you lose your hair due to medical reasons such as chemotherapy, alopecia, trichotillomania, or other medical conditions, you can file an insurance claim to receive a partial or full cost of your cranial prosthesis.
What is a Cranial Prosthesis?
A cranial prosthesis is a wig for medical patients who have permanent hair loss (such as alopecia areata, alopecia totalis, trichotillomania), or temporary hair loss resulting from treatment for chemotherapy, radiation, or any other clinical disease.
The term, cranial prosthesis, is used when applying for medical insurance or tax deduction status. Other common terms for a wig used for medical purposes include: full cranial prosthesis, hair prosthesis, cranial hair prosthesis, extra-cranial prosthesis.
Note: Since the above processes are an ongoing condition, you may be eligible to receive full or partial coverage to purchase the full cranial prosthesis by your health insurance company.
Your Coverage Depends on Your Insurance Plan
For medical hair loss, you may obtain payment for the full cranial prosthesis. Depending on your policy, some insurance companies will require you to pay upfront and then be reimbursed, others will pay for your prosthesis upfront.
Most insurance companies will cover between 80-100% of the cost for your full cranial prosthesis and will allow you to receive one cranial prosthesis per year for medical hair loss. Depending on your insurance, your prosthesis may also be a tax deductible medical expense. We confirmed with an insurance representatives that if a person's medical bills are over 7.5% of their income, then the wig would become tax deductible. However, the individual should discuss this with their tax advisor first.
Through research, we discovered that in default policies there is no coverage for wigs as they are part of the Standard List of Exclusions. However, you can contact your employer's HR department or your insurance broker to renegotiate your insurance contract to include your cranial prosthesis coverage.
Most Types of Medical Hair Loss Covered By Insurance
- Alopecia Hair Loss
- Chemotherapy Related Hair Loss
- Radiation Related Hair Loss
- Thyroid Related Hair Loss
- Kidney Related Hair Loss
- Cancer Related Hair Loss
- Medical Hair Loss Due to Genetics, Stress, Reaction to Medical Illness, Life and Environmental Changes, Aging, Thinning, and/or Balding
Insurance Companies and Their Cranial Prosthesis Coverage:
Blue Cross Blue Shield
Aetna
United Healthcare
Medicare
Ambetter
Humana
Baylor Scott & White
Oscar
Molina
Cigna
National General
General Electric
ChampVa
TriCare