Are Insurance Companies About To Ease Funding On Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Ask any bariatric surgeon whether or not gastric bypass surgery lowers a patient's risk of premature death and he will tell you without hesitation that it does. Indeed, he will undoubtedly be surprised that you are posing the question in the first place since surgeons have known for years that weight loss surgery extends a patient's life.

However, put that same question to a number of insurance companies and you may well get a different answer because, until now, in spite of the fact that there has been plenty of anecdotal evidence for what everybody knows to be the position, there has been no concrete, hard scientific proof.

Now however the results of two studies have clearly demonstrated in quantifiable terms that gastric bypass surgery has a marked effect on the death rates of those concerned.

In the first study, a multi-center American study involving 16,000 patients followed for 7 years, long-term death rates fell by as much as 40 percent. In addition a second Swedish study involving some 4,000 patients showed a 29 percent fall in death rates.

For many years now insurance companies have sought to put obstacles in front of patients to stop them from submitting claims for weight loss surgery and this movement has been gaining momentum recently as the number of weight loss surgeries being performed has risen dramatically and weight loss surgery has gained greater acceptance with a number of celebrities such as Star Jones, Carnie Wilson, Al Rocker and others undergoing obesity surgery.

The insurance companies however have stuck rigidly to the position that gastric bypass surgery should only be used as a last resort and that all possible efforts to lose weight through exercise and diet, including if needed the use of medication, should be exhausted before weight loss surgery can be approved. In addition, they have also insisted that gastric bypass surgery can only finally be undertaken if weight presents a life-threatening risk.

For most people this position by the insurance companies is seen as being totally ridiculous and a position which they have clearly adopted merely to save money. Like it or not, despite this point of view, the insurance companies have gotten away with this for years now because it has not been possible to show in terms of facts and figures that gastric bypass surgery is not just a convenient and relatively easy way to lose weight but is the only option for many obesity sufferers and an option which will not only improve their quality of life but literally extend their lives, frequently quite significantly.

For years overweight people have battled with their weight and, while some people have experienced very limited success, most people (and certainly those who are faced with losing in excess of about 80 pounds) have found that diet and exercise quite simply does not work. However, they have had no choice and doctors have been forced to lead patients down this path because of the position of the insurance companies.

It is to be hoped that at long last the insurance companies are going to be forced to face up to their responsibility in this area and at last put the needs of their policyholders ahead of those of their shareholders.

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