Expanding Medical Insurance Cover for Liposuction in the US

Cigna expands liposuction coverage under ERISA class settlement.

Cigna Health & Life Insurance Co. expanded its coverage of specialised liposuction and will reprocess coverage requests from patients with Lipoedema whose claims were previously denied, according to a class settlement filed in the Northern District of California.

The settlement, which is expected to benefit more than 239 people, was reached after Cigna opted to change its policy on Liposuction coverage in the wake of Banafsheh Akhlaghi’s lawsuit raising claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. Cigna’s “post-litigation reversal,” in which is now finds that liposuction is a medically necessary treatment for Lipoedema if certain criteria are met.