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Does Medicare Cover Dermatology?

Original Medicare, especially Medicare part B, [1] helps to cover medically important dermatological services, such as those involving the treatment of skin cancers [2] and other critical skin conditions. Regular dermatology service, however, is not covered by original Medicare, but it can be covered by other types of Medicare like Medicare Advantage. Read on to learn more about the dermatology services Medicare covers.

What Dermatology Services Does Medicare Cover?

Medicare will only cover the cost of dermatology services that are medically necessary. These services might be used to diagnose or treat serious skin conditions. Conditions that affect the other parts of the integumentary system like the skin and hair are also covered but they have to be really important.

Examples of dermatology services that are covered by Medicare includes:

  • Removal of skin lesions to prevent a disease from spreading
  • A skin biopsy used in the diagnosis of cancer
  • Surgical procedures to remove tumors or cancers in the skin
  • Cryotherapy
  • Treatment of skin cancers
  • Skin grafting

All of these procedures are clinically important and are covered by Medicare part B. Any procedure that is not clinically important will not be covered by Medicare part B.