Considering breast implants for yourself or a loved one? Before you run off to the plastic surgeon and schedule augmentation, you might want to check your bank account balance first.

Unless you're recovering from mastectomy due to cancer, your health insurance company isn't likely to cover the cost of those fake breasts for cosmetic reasons—or any of the expense that goes along with them.

Why? Because insurance takes into consideration both risk and cost.

Your insurer considers putting your life at risk for a surgery you don't really need unwise. Therefore, unless there are unusual circumstances related to your health, it won't normally pay for implant surgery.

The True Cost of Implants

Implantation costs $4,000 to $7,000, according to WebMD. That's expensive, and is difficult for many people to produce on their own.

If you or someone you love decides to undergo breast implant surgery, some of the costs you'll incur include:

  • Anesthesia
  • Hospital charges
  • Doctor's fees
  • Pain medication
  • The cost of the implants themselves
In addition, if you opt for silicone implants rather than saline, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends you have an MRI three years after implantation, and once every two years after that, to make sure the implants haven't ruptured.

At around $2,000 each, MRIs can be expensive, and present additional costs you probably didn't expect—and, again,??must cover yourself.

Fake Breasts & Your Insurance

Some insurance companies consider implants a pre-existing condition. This may make getting insured??much more difficult, and a waiting period may be??required before you can get group coverage under an employer's??health insurance plan.??

If you are??insured prior to surgery and you suffer complications, at that point your insurance company might do one or all of the following:

  1. Charge you higher premiums
  2. Limit your coverage (e.g., not cover diseases of the breast, if they occur)
  3. Refuse to renew your policy
Note: If you ever develop an allergic reaction or leak, require further surgery for repositioning, or one or both implants deteriorates and needs replacing, you could incur more major expense, which—you guessed it—you'll have to pay for.

Though some implant manufacturers offer lifetime guarantees and replacements at no cost, the costs associated with surgery may not be included—and removing implants often costs more than putting them in.

Implants: Are They Worth It?

As you can see, those fake breasts carry with them some very real concerns that shouldn't be ignored.

So consider these things carefully before making your final decision about implantation. Your health, finances and insurance coverage may be at greater risk than you think.

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If you’ve ever shopped for a homeowner’s policy, you probably had to disclose whether you owned a Rottweiler, Pit Bull, Doberman, Chow, or German Shepard. (Sometimes even Dalmatians make the list.)

If you do own one of the above breeds, you are probably paying a higher premium than your Chihuahua-owning neighbor.

You’re not the only one who thinks this practice is unfair. Dog advocates label this “breed discrimination” and they’re lobbying every state legislature in the union in hopes of stopping it. Deeds not breeds, they say, should determine rates.

But insurers have good reason to be skittish about dogs. According to the Insurance Information Institute, they paid over $317 million in dog bite-related claims in 2005. The III says dog bites totaled about 10 percent of all homeowner liability claims that year.

While advocacy groups can sympathize with insurers, organizations like the Humane Society and the American Kennel Club believe breed-specific rate setting is a misguided and ineffective attempt to remedy the costs of dog aggression. All breeds bite, they say. The best way to reduce dog-bite liability claims is to encourage and reward responsible dog ownership.

And they have persuaded a few state legislatures with their arguments. Some states have already banned breed-specific rate setting, and others are crafting bans as we speak. Legislatures are putting more emphasis, in the form of both carrots and sticks, on dog owner responsibility.

The American Kennel Club thinks dogs can be an asset to insurers, not just a liability. The group says a dog may serve as “a natural alarm system whose bark may deter intruders and prevent potential theft.”

And the good news is that if your pooch takes a bite out of a burglar, you’re not liable for any injury. All you need to do is make sure Fluffy can distinguish between the bad guys and the good guys.