Insurance coverage provided for ALL WLS? Inside scoop:

[Dr-Patient 830]

Hi. Should bariatric surgery be covered by all insurance carriers nationally? If interested, here is a blurb in The Obesity Society's (TOS) newsletter (emailed yesterday to medical professional attendees of the Obesity Week conference last November). In short, the medical community is working to have WLS considered a standard part of medical care in the fight against the disease of obesity, and to get it covered by all insurers. Just an FYI re: the ongoing, internal discussion:

Capitol Update: Campaigns for Consistent Medical Coverage of Bariatric Surgery (TOS)

In late March, leaders of the Obesity Care Continuum (OCC) participated in a meeting with key staff from the HHS Office of Health Reform and CMS Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (CCIIO) to discuss inconsistent coverage of bariatric surgery in a number of states across the country.

Find out more about TOS's efforts in Washington last month...in the April Capitol Update here.

(Direct link: http://www.obesity.org/images/pdf/Publications/Advocacy/0414_TOS_Capitol_Update__.pdf)

Excerpt [bold/italics, mine]: "...public and private health plans need to follow suit and embrace coverage of evidence-based obesity treatment avenues such as intensive behavioral therapy, pharmacotherapy and bariatric surgery so that those affected may have access to the full continuum of care for this complex and chronic disease."

Edited April 18, 2014 by Dr-Patient

[relief57 53]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I believe once the nomenclature of disease is established the potential treatments follow.