Surgery: FSA Eligibility

Surgery for cosmetic procedures is not eligible.

On a general level, what is surgery?

Surgery can be considered a technological operation or special of medicine that involves treating diseases and disorder through the physical intervention of tissues and muscles. This typically involves cutting, removing, or altering the body in some way through an operative procedure.

A surgery is performed by a surgeon, or a physician who has received specialized training in the operation at hand. Typically there will be a surgical team working alongside the surgeon as well, including an assistant, anesthesia provider, circulating nurse, and surgical technologist. A surgery can span minutes to hours, but it is typically not an ongoing or periodic type of treatment (Verywell Health).

What is not considered surgery?

There are many surgical specialties or areas providing treatment in all parts of the human body including the heart, brain, and bones. Operations may be considered surgery if they involve common surgical procedure or settings such as use of a sterile environment, anesthesia, antiseptic conditions, surgical instruments, and stapling.

Some other procedures that do not necessarily fall underneath the category of surgery such as angioplasty or endoscopy. Surgical procedures are considered invasive procedure. Noninvasive surgery usually refers to an excision that does not penetrate through what is being excised such as the LASIK operation of the cornea.

How are types of surgery classified?

Surgical procedures can be categorized by urgency, type of procedure, body system involved, degree of invasiveness, and special instrumentation. Timing is a crucial component of surgery as some are life-threatening and must be performed immediately while others must be done eventually to prevent permanent disability but can be postponed for short period of time.

Exploratory surgery done to perform a diagnosis and therapeutic surgery treats an already diagnosed condition. Surgeries can be classified by the type of procedure: amputation, resection, replantation, reconstruction, excision, transplant, removal, etc. They can also be classified the body part or organ system on which the surgery is performed. Additional classifications include degree of invasiveness and surgical equipment used (National Center for Biotechnology Information).

Cosmetic surgery is not eligible for reimbursement.