Cash pay patients who are severely ill women in the future, liposuction

The statutory health insurance, in very severe cases, a certain metabolic disorder called lipedema, in the future, the cost of a medical liposuction.

This is the Federal Joint Committee of Doctors, hospitals, and health insurances (G-BA) approved on Thursday in Berlin for about five years until the end of 2024. A permanent decision is to be made as soon as results from the G-BA commissioned study is available.

Cause: unknown

The lipedema affects almost exclusively women, and leads to the abnormal fat tissue growth in the arms and legs, which is also accompanied by severe pain.

The cause of the disease is unknown. The most significant symptoms: The limbs are thick, the skin pressure-sensitive and more prone to bruising. How many women are affected in Germany, is not known.

The funds bear the cost of a liposuction only, if Concerned are suffering from lipedema in stage 3. In addition, the women have undergone previously half a year of conservative therapies, such as lymphatic drainage, without a noticeable improvement has occurred. Also exact quality standards in the operations.

The Ministry of health in Berlin has to approve the decision before it enters into force. The G-BA assumes that the measure is about from the beginning of 2020 Fund performance.

In January, the Federal government had announced health Minister Jens Spahn (CDU), the health insurance companies should assume the costs for the liposuction during a severe lipedema. The thrust in the G-BA initially to resistance. The Committee shall decide, on a scientific Basis, whether the cost of a therapy will be reimbursed or not. In the case of liposuction, the evidence is still out on whether the treatment helps the affected women actually. The procedure involves, like any surgery, risks. In some patients, multiple operations are also necessary, because in an intervention a maximum of five to seven liters of fat can be extracted.