Weight Loss Surgery Are You Covered?
More and more today people are opting for weight loss surgery. It was not long ago that almost all insurance companies recognized this surgery as cosmetic. In order to have this surgery you needed either a hefty bank account or had to go deeply into debt. In recent years the opposite has become true. Most insurance companies recognize that weight loss surgery is now a very successful cost cutting measure. Medicare and Medicaid along with many State programs have also seen the light and both gastric bypass and lap band surgery is now a reasonable option for the morbidly obese and those with certain health risks.
Weight loss surgery cures and improves many obesity related diseases and other health problems. In a report from the Journal of the American Medical Association it was reported that diabetes is cured in 80% of patients and resolved or improved in 90% of patients. As a pre-diabetic prior to surgery and a widower who lost their wife to diabetes I understand just how important this single benefit is. Having previously suffered from high blood pressure I can also appreciate the fact that hypertension (high blood pressure) is cured in 62% of patients and resolved or cured in 78.5% of weight loss surgery patients. It was reported that nearly all patients are able to reduce their blood pressure medication to a single medication within a few months. High cholesterol and high triglycerides is improved in more than 70% of bariatric surgery patients. As a person that was diagnosed with sleep apnea and placed on a CPAP machine something that I was never able to get used to, I became one of the 86% of bariatric surgery patients that is cured of sleep apnea. And to top all of this off the same journal reported that the risk of death is decreased by 89%.
Does your private or public health plan cover weight loss surgery. The chances are that it does. If you are significantly overweight you should talk to your doctor about it. First though be honest with yourself and ask if you have faithfully tried to loose and maintain your weight through traditional exercise and diet. If you haven’t tried traditional dieting and exercise first you are not ready for bariatric surgery. While I am a supporter of weight loss surgery you need to realize that weight loss surgery is not a magic cure it is a tool. While weight loss surgery is an exceptional tool you need training and the ability to maintain life long discipline or the tool will not work.
