Mitchel Krieger, MD

Insurance companies will provide coverage for repair of an abdominal wall hernia if one exists. More commonly, however, there is not hernia but a weakness in the abdominal wall called a rectus diastasis. While this may be distressing it posed not health concerns and is therefore not a deformity typically covered by you health insurance provider. As for performing a tummy tuck when an abdominal wall hernia is repaired, this is certainly feasible and often convenient. Its repair, however, does not require that a tummy tuck be performed so don't expect that they will authorize coverage of the tummy tuck. Most likely, you will need to pay out of pocket for the tummy tuck while costs for the repair of a hernia would be covered. If no hernia exists, don't expect your insurance carrier to provide any degree of coverage no matter how damaged the muscles are.