Is gastric bypass surgery covered with short term disability?

Short term disability policies are generally issued through private insurers. The Federal Social Security Disability Program does not offer short term disability protection, it only offers long term disability. Thus, an insurance company does not have to provide you with disability coverage or sell you disability insurance. Just as with any type of insurance, you will need to fill out an application and the insurer will assess your risk and determine whether to insure you and how much to charge you. If you are a candidate for gastric bypass surgery, you may be unable to qualify to purchase a private short term disability plan due to your high body mass index (BMI). However, if you are already covered through a short term disability plan provided by our employer, it is possible that you will be covered under that plan for the time you must be out during your surgery. It will depend on the terms of the policy and upon whether or not your gastric bypass surgery is determined to be elective or not. You may wish to consider speaking to a disability insurance attorney who can give you more guidance on what your policy provisions cover and on how to make sure you get the coverage you are entitled to.