Enquire of any skilled bariatric surgeon whether or not gastric bypass surgery lessens a patient’s risk of premature death and he will tell you without any hesitation that it does. Indeed, he will almost certainly 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.

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

Today however the results of 2 studies have clearly demonstrated in quantifiable terms that weight loss surgery has a marked effect on the mortality of those concerned.

In the first study, a multi-center US study involving 16,000 patients followed over a 7 year period, long-term mortality fell by as much as 40 percent. Additionally a second Swedish study involving some 4,000 patients showed a 29 percent fall in mortality.

For many years now insurance companies have sought to put hurdles in the path of patients to prevent them from claiming for gastric bypass surgery and this has been gaining momentum in recent years as the number of weight loss operations being performed has risen dramatically and gastric bypass surgery has become increasingly acceptable with a number of celebrities such as Al Rocker, Renee Williams, Star Jones and others undergoing the procedure.

The insurers however have stuck rigidly to the position that weight loss surgery ought only to be used as a last resort and that every possible attempt to lose weight through exercise and diet, including if necessary the use of medication, should be exhausted before gastric bypass surgery can be approved. In addition, they have also insisted that weight loss surgery can only finally be carried out if weight presents a risk to life.

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

For years overweight individuals have fought with their weight and, while some have experienced very limited success, the vast majority of people (and unquestionably those who need to lose in excess of about 80 pounds) have found that exercise and diet quite simply does not work. However, they have had no choice and doctors have been forced to lead patients down this road because of the position of the insurance companies.

It is to be hoped that now at long last the insurance companies will be forced to face up to their responsibility in this area and finally put the needs of their policyholders above those of their shareholders and start to meet the cost of gastric bypass surgery.

Filed under: Health Insurance

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