I'm not sure what the name of it is, like if a person loses 100 pounds but they still have all that extra skin on their legs, and that in itself is keeping weight on them...to have those cut off to have normal legs again, is that considered cosmetic surgery or necessary surgery pertaining to health instead of just looks? And should medical insurance cover that?

If it interferes with day to day living then yes, it's necessary & should be covered by insurance.

See that's what we say, but we have a friend who has that problem and her insurance told her it's purely cosmetic and she'd have to pay for it herself, $30,000.

If has an attorney or is able to speak with one, she should look into that.

They wouldn't be able to afford one, they're already having trouble paying off all her additional medical bills.

I think every community has a legal aid service for people who can't afford one. There should be something in the insurance paperwork to protest decisions. They will certainly attempt to deny everything they can while collecting the premiums but there should be some recourse. If it's causing an interference with her ability to function & they still refuse to pay after making the attempt to reason with them, I'd make it public. Your local news/consumer rights division might be willing to take up the cause.

That's considered plastic surgery and plastic surgery is considering cosmetic surgery, so no....insurance companies won't pay for cosmetic surgery. That person is going to have to prove (and that in itself is going to be daunting) that the extra skin is causing a health problem. It might not look nice, but I'm sure he/she is still better off now that they were before they lost 100 pounds.

's probably something an HMO/insurance company would routinely deny right off the bat. She shouldn't just take no for an answer.

http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/insurance/20050726a1.asp

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal-finance/2011/11/08/how-to-fight-denied-medical-claim/