How Much Does Breast Augmentation Cost in Beverly Hills? A Complete Guide

How Much Is Breast Augmentation With Dr. Cat? The Range Explained

Dr. Cat Begovic, MD, FACS, is a board-certified plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, Harvard and UCLA trained. She performs every breast augmentation herself, with a board-certified anesthesiologist for the whole case, in an accredited private surgical center on Rodeo Drive, and schedules three to four hours for it rather than the hour many practices allot. One itemized quote covers her fee, the implants, the anesthesiologist, the facility, your surgical bra and your follow-up visits.

Breast augmentation with implants: surgeon's fee $17,500 to $22,500. A pocket is made over or under the chest muscle through an incision in the fold or around the areola, and a saline or silicone implant is placed with a no-touch technique; the implants, the placement and the correction your two sides need set where you land. Read about breast augmentation in Beverly Hills.

Tuberous breast augmentation: surgeon's fee $19,500 to $24,500. Tuberous breasts are constricted by tight internal fibers, and an implant alone produces a double bubble. Dr. Cat's tuberous breast correction releases the fibers, tests a sizer in each pocket and adds a periareolar lift, usually in one surgery of five to six hours; the extra time is the extra price.

Natural breast augmentation with fat transfer: surgeon's fee $56,500 to $63,500. A lipo 360 harvests the fat, which is transferred into the breasts for about one cup size of natural volume. Most of the fee is the liposuction, a $45,500 to $52,500 surgeon's fee on its own in our liposuction cost guide. Read about breast augmentation with fat transfer and our comparison of implants vs fat transfer.

Breast augmentation with a lift: surgeon's fee $55,000 to $65,500 with a full lift, $30,000 to $35,000 with a periareolar lift. When the nipple sits at or below the fold, an implant fills the breast without raising it, so Dr. Cat adds a breast lift in the same surgery, periareolar for mild sagging and a full lift for more. Our guide to breast lift vs augmentation explains how nipple position decides.

Implant replacement and revision. In surgeon's fees, a simple exchange is $19,500 to $21,500; a breast revision that also corrects the capsule or the pocket $60,000 to $75,500; an explant with capsulectomy $19,500 to $23,500. The $1,500 revision consultation is credited toward surgery. Our breast revision cost guide covers each type.

Breast augmentation in a mommy makeover. A tummy tuck is never done on the same day as a breast augmentation with implants, so the two are staged on separate surgical days; implants with liposuction are planned across one or two days as the total operating time allows, and a Brazilian butt lift is never on the same day as either. A mommy makeover is quoted as a combined plan; our mommy makeover cost guide prices the parts.

Understanding Breast Augmentation with Implants

Breast augmentation with implants, the surgery most people mean by "boob job," enlarges the breasts, restores volume lost to pregnancy or weight loss, and improves symmetry with a saline or silicone implant behind each breast; the American Society of Plastic Surgeons counts about 300,000 a year in the United States. Five decisions shape the operation, and each touches the price:

• Implant placement over or under the muscle
• Incision placement: in the breast fold or around the areola
• Type of implant: silicone or saline, standard or cohesive gel, round or shaped
• Implant size and profile, chosen with sizers at the consultation
• Combinations: a lift, fat transfer or a mommy makeover

At your consultation with Dr. Cat you make those decisions together: she measures you, you try on sizers, and she tells you which placement and incision suit your anatomy. In her words: "As a woman, I understand the importance of using a meticulous technique to create precise symmetry and a thin, barely visible incision."

Factors Affecting the Cost of Breast Augmentation

These variables separate a $27,000 augmentation from a $7,000 one.

Surgical Experience and Prestige

The surgeon's fee is the largest line and the one that varies most. Ask who performs the surgery start to finish, because in some practices an associate makes the pocket or closes the incision, and the pocket decides symmetry and the closure decides the scar. Dr. Cat performs every step herself, which her track record of happy patients reflects.

Type of Implants Used

Saline implants cost the least, silicone gel more, and the highly cohesive gummy bear implants the most, and the FDA-approved brands price their ranges differently. Dr. Cat uses Mentor implants; on her quote the implants are their own line, and silicone costs more than saline.

Implant Size and Shape

A larger implant costs a little more than a smaller one of the same type, and a shaped implant more than a round one. The bigger effect is indirect: large volumes need a more precise pocket, which takes longer, and an implant too large for its tissue cover is more likely to need a revision later.

Implant Placement: Over or Under the Muscle

Under the muscle takes more dissection and time than over it, so submuscular placement usually carries a higher surgeon's fee. Under is the usual choice when there is little natural tissue, because the muscle hides the implant's edge; over suits a patient with enough tissue to cover it.

Incision Placement

Dr. Cat uses one of two incisions, in the breast fold or around the areola; the fold keeps the surgery away from the nipple, the areola carries a small risk to sensation. The incision changes the scar more than the price. Armpit and belly-button incisions are not part of her technique.

Anesthesia Fees

Anesthesia is the line practices trim most often: a nurse anesthetist instead of a physician, sedation instead of general anesthesia, or hourly billing with overage fees. Every Dr. Cat patient has a board-certified physician anesthesiologist for the entire case, included in the quote (our post on anesthesia types explains why).

Surgical Facility and Location

An accredited surgical facility is held to hospital-grade standards for sterility, equipment and emergency readiness; an office procedure room is not. A practice on Rodeo Drive also costs more to run.

Additional Surgeries

A breast lift, fat transfer, tuberous correction or a mommy makeover performed with the augmentation raises the price, though by less than separate surgeries, because one anesthesia, one facility and one recovery cover all of it. A revision costs more because scar tissue and a capsule make it a longer operation.

Last, ask what is included; some quotes leave out the implants, anesthesia, the facility or follow-up visits. If a price seems too good to be true, one of the answers above is the reason.

What a Breast Augmentation Quote Is Made Of

Every quote is built from the same line items.

1. Consultation fee

Many "free" consultations are with a coordinator, not the surgeon. A consultation with Dr. Cat is with Dr. Cat, sizers included. It is $500, or $1,500 for a revision, credited toward surgery; out-of-town patients can start virtually.

2. Surgeon's fee

The largest line and the most variable. It depends on placement, combinations, first surgery or revision, and how much the surgeon performs personally. With Dr. Cat, all of it.

3. The implants

Saline, silicone or cohesive-gel silicone, a line of their own on the quote, with silicone costing more than saline. Ask what the manufacturer's rupture warranty covers; it usually pays for replacement implants and a set amount toward surgery, not a cosmetic revision.

4. Anesthesia

Billed for the anesthesiologist's time and the medications; Dr. Cat's board-certified physician anesthesiologist is included.

5. Operating room and facility

Pays for the operating room, nursing staff, recovery room and supplies; accreditation is the item to ask about. Dr. Cat's accredited surgical center is included.

6. Surgical bra

You wake up in a supportive surgical bra and wear one for the first weeks; the office measures and provides yours. Most patients buy a second one, and bras in their final size once the implants have dropped, at four to six months.

7. Medications, labs and imaging

Pre-operative labs, and depending on your age a baseline mammogram, are billed by the lab and often covered by insurance. Afterward you have an antibiotic and pain medication; most of Dr. Cat's patients manage the first days with Tylenol.

8. Follow-up visits

You see Dr. Cat the day after surgery and through the months while the implants settle; some practices bill each visit, Dr. Cat's are included.

Saline vs. Silicone vs. Fat Transfer: Cost Comparison

Published price lists across American practices put saline implants at roughly $1,000 to $2,000 above the base surgical fee, silicone gel at $2,000 to $3,000, and gummy bear implants at $3,000 to $5,000. The difference is small against the surgeon's, anesthesia and facility fees, so it should not decide your choice.

Choose on feel, look and anatomy. Silicone gel feels closer to breast tissue, ripples less in a thin patient, comes in round and teardrop shapes, and is FDA-approved at 22. Saline is filled after placement, so it needs a smaller incision, its rupture is obvious because the breast deflates, and it is approved at 18, but it feels firmer and ripples more easily where there is little tissue to cover it. A silicone rupture can be silent, so the FDA recommends an ultrasound or MRI five to six years after placement and every two to three years after that, and Dr. Cat recommends exchanging silicone implants on a schedule, about every 8 to 10 years, to reduce the chance of a leak; a saline implant announces a leak by deflating and is replaced then. Our guide to saline vs silicone breast implants goes through each point, and our comparison of saline vs silicone implants adds when Dr. Cat recommends each and why.

Fat transfer is a different surgery and a different price: liposuction harvests the fat and the purified fat is transferred into the breasts, so you pay for a full liposuction plus the grafting, $8,000 to $14,000 in most American markets and a $56,500 to $63,500 surgeon's fee with Dr. Cat, whose harvest is a lipo 360. It suits a patient who wants a modest, natural increase without an implant and has fat to donate.

Cup Size, CC Volume, and How They Affect Price

One common question we get is how implant volume translates to cup size. As a general guideline every 150 to 200 cc adds roughly one cup size, though chest width and existing tissue strongly influence the result. Dr. Cat places implants tailored to each patient's anatomy and aesthetic preferences; they range from small "ballet breasts" at 175 cc to as full as 700 cc. The same 300 cc looks softer in a moderate profile and rounder in a high profile, which is why Dr. Cat has you try on sizers rather than pick from a chart.

Size changes the price less than you would think: larger implants and high-profile styles add a modest amount for the implants and the pocket they need. What size changes more is the future. An implant too large for your frame stretches the tissue, invites bottoming out and rippling, and is a common reason for a revision, so prioritize proportion over a target cup number. Our post on breast implant sizing covers volume, profile and diameter, and our guide to breast implant sizes adds a cc chart by frame.

Why the Average Cost of Breast Augmentation with Implants Is Not Your Number

Search for the average cost of breast augmentation and you will find the American Society of Plastic Surgeons figure of $4,875. Read the fine print: that is the surgeon's fee only. It excludes anesthesia, the operating room, the implants, the garment and follow-up, and it averages every surgeon who reports, in every market, doing every version of the operation. The $6,000 to $15,000 all-in range that most websites repeat, and that earlier versions of this page carried, describes a typical augmentation in a typical market.

That is not the surgery this page is about. An augmentation by a Beverly Hills specialist who performs every step herself over three to four hours, with a physician anesthesiologist in an accredited facility, costs several times the figures online.

Breast Augmentation Cost Near Me: Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, California and the National Price Ranges

Across the United States a primary breast augmentation typically falls between $6,000 and $15,000 all in. Coastal markets such as Los Angeles, New York and Miami trend toward the higher end, Midwest and southern markets generally run $6,500 to $9,500, and a revision, a breast lift or a specialty implant profile adds $2,000 to $6,000. Los Angeles runs from advertised specials at high-volume clinics to specialist practices; in Beverly Hills all-inclusive packages of $10,000 to $15,000 are common, with specialists above that, and Dr. Cat's surgeon's fee alone, $17,500 to $22,500, sits at the top of the California market.

"Near me" therefore tells you where a surgeon is, not what you are buying. Our office is at 421 N. Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and about a third of Dr. Cat's patients travel from other states and countries; the out-of-town patient page explains how their surgery week and follow-up are arranged.

The chart and the table below give the national picture, general estimates from published price lists for typical practices.

Breast Augmentation Cost in Mexico, Turkey and Abroad

A breast augmentation in Tijuana, Istanbul, Bogotá, Santo Domingo or Bangkok is advertised at $3,000 to $6,000, sometimes with the hotel included. The price is possible because the surgeon's time, the anesthesia, the facility and often the implants cost less, and because there is usually no follow-up: you fly home within a week, and the surgeon who operated on you never sees the implant drop or the capsule tighten. Not every implant brand sold abroad is approved in the United States.

A complication after surgery abroad is treated at home at emergency-room prices, and a correction is a breast revision, a $60,000 to $75,500 surgeon's fee with Dr. Cat, more than the original surgery would have cost done well. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons and the CDC both warn about cosmetic surgery tourism, including infections rare in accredited American facilities; our post on plastic surgery tourism, the cost and the danger covers what to check before you book anywhere.

Does Insurance Cover Breast Augmentation?

No. Cosmetic breast augmentation is elective, so insurance does not cover the surgeon's fee, the implants, anesthesia or the facility, and the prices here are self-pay. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons adds a warning worth reading in your own policy: most plans also exclude complications of cosmetic implants and later revisions.

Reconstruction is different. Breast reconstruction after a mastectomy, implants included, is covered by federal law when the plan covered the mastectomy, and reconstruction for a congenital deformity or a rupture causing medical symptoms may qualify for partial coverage. If you think any part of your surgery may qualify, tell us at your consultation and we will tell you plainly.

Financing, Payment Plans, and Making Surgery Affordable

Surgery is paid for before the surgery date, and many of our patients finance part or all of it. Cherry is our primary financing partner: 0% APR options for qualified applicants, about a minute to check your options, and a soft credit check that does not affect your credit score. We also accept CareCredit and Alphaeon Credit. See Plastic Surgery Financing Options to apply, and how to finance plastic surgery for a comparison.

When you budget, plan for the full quote plus about 10 to 15 percent for what sits outside it. If financing is not the right fit, Dr. Cat's advice is to save and wait for the surgery you want rather than settling for a cheaper version now.

The Costs That Are Not on the Quote

The budget continues after surgery.

• Time off work. Dr. Cat's patients are back at desk work at about one week, keep arm movement minimal for the first two weeks, and are cleared for all exercise with no restrictions at six weeks; plan on two weeks away from a physical job. Our breast augmentation recovery guide covers each week.
• Help at home. Someone should drive you home and stay the first night, and you will want help with anything overhead for a few days.
• New bras. Your first surgical bra is provided; a second one, and bras in your new size once the implants have settled, are on you.
• Travel and accommodation. Out-of-town patients stay in Los Angeles until Dr. Cat has cleared them to travel; see plan your stay.
• Screening for silicone implants. The FDA recommends an ultrasound or MRI at five to six years and every two to three years after that; insurance rarely pays for it.
• Future implant exchange. Breast implants are not lifetime devices, and this is a real future cost to plan for. Dr. Cat recommends exchanging silicone implants on a schedule, about every 8 to 10 years, to reduce the chance of a leak, because a silicone rupture is often silent; saline implants announce a leak by deflating and are replaced when that happens or when you want a change. A capsular contracture, a malposition or a wish for a different size brings either forward. An exchange with Dr. Cat is a simple implant removal and replacement, a $19,500 to $21,500 surgeon's fee, with the operating room and anesthesia quoted at the consultation; an exchange with capsule work is a $60,000 to $75,500 surgeon's fee. Our post on breast implant lifespan and care covers the signs, and our guide to breast implant problems what each looks like.

The Real Cost of a Cheap Breast Augmentation

Plastic surgery is real surgery, and you only have one body. The savings on a cheap augmentation are borrowed against implants that sit too high or drop too low, a double bubble, rippling, a hardened capsule, a hurried closure, or an infection in an unaccredited operating room. Each is a second surgery.

Dr. Cat is sought after for breast revision, and she knows the subject from both sides of the table: as she says on her revision page, she had a less-than-ideal first implant surgery herself and struggled with complications after her revision. A revision always costs more than the original surgery would have, and some problems cannot be fully corrected by anyone. Our breast revision cost guide explains the types and prices. Having it done correctly the first time is the least expensive way to have it done.

The Importance of Choosing a Skilled Surgeon

Cost is something to think about, but the value of a surgeon who puts your safety and your result first cannot be overstated. Ask whether the surgeon is a board-certified plastic surgeon, how many breast augmentations she performs, whether the photos are her own, and whether she revises other surgeons' work. Read the reviews, the bad ones too. If it does not feel right, it is not right.

Dr. Cat is a board-certified plastic surgeon, Harvard and UCLA trained, a three-time winner of the Best of Beverly Hills award for cosmetic surgeons, and known for results that enhance the figure while leaving scars that are nearly invisible. Her own breast augmentation more than two decades ago is why she gives her patients the care and attention to detail she wishes she had received. It is one reason patients travel from all over the world to her.

Is Breast Augmentation Worth the Cost?

For most women who have it for their own reasons, yes. The narrower question is whether it is worth a specialist rather than whoever quotes the least, and the answer is to look. Dr. Cat's breast augmentation before and after photos show the proportion, symmetry and soft shape her technique produces and the scars you have to search for, and her success stories, including Victoria's breast augmentation story, describe what the result changed. If your breasts are uneven, our guide to uneven breasts explains how a surgeon balances them.

Dr. Cat Plastic Surgery: Curves Without Compromise

The only breast augmentation price that matters is the one written for your anatomy and your goals. Start with a free discovery call: our patient concierge will call you for a short conversation, and Dr. Cat will examine you at your consultation and give you a complete written quote; you can also call (310) 858-8808. Before you visit, see her breast augmentation before and after photos, read about breast augmentation in Beverly Hills, and compare with our tummy tuck cost guide, liposuction cost guide and mommy makeover cost guide, or browse our plastic surgery cost guides.