Bariatric Surgery and Lower Insurance Premiums

Posted by Patient Help Desk on July 27, 2008 under Financial | Be the First to Comment

Sure, by undergoing bariatric surgery, you’re dramatically improving your health, both now and in the future. But you’re also doing some very good things to your bank account!

A growing number of studies have found that weight loss procedures have imparted valuable benefits for reducing the development of conditions common to morbidly obese men and women. That in part has contributed to falling rates for these patients’ insurance claims. A published study the American Journal of Managed Care showed that in as quickly as 2 to 4 years, health insurers can hope to recoup their costs, which can soar as high $17,000-$26,000.

Surgery or Not: Who Is More Cost-Effective?

For this study, the insurance claims of two subject groups were compared. One group involved over 3,600 morbidly obese men and women who had experienced laparoscopic bariatric surgery, while the other group involved 3,600 subjects who didn’t have surgery. The findings demonstrated that for the surgical subjects expressed reduced percentages of sleep apnea, hypertension and diabetes following their operations. The non-surgical subjects’ percentages rose or stayed the same.

One year after the study’s start, the surgical subjects’ monthly medical costs were as much as $900 less than the non-surgical subjects. Dr. Scott Shikora, president of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery, and the study’s co-author stated: “Bariatric surgery is a unique field in that with one operation you can cure a wide range of different health conditions.”He added, “this paper demonstrated that you can do that and actually save money in the process.”

Faced with these potentially dramatic health and financial benefits, is it really that surprising that so many obese men and women are going under the knife? About 220,000 surgeries will be performed this year, for a more-than-tenfold increase since 1992. Even better, research suggests that the risk of death from weight loss surgery is now below 1%!

Most health insurers consider cost to be the biggest issue for coverage. While they typically so provide coverage, they try to make it very difficult for patients. As you’d expect, this angers medical professionals. “Obesity is a disease, it’s not just a choice or an eating affliction,” says Shikora. “It is a genetic disease, and I don’t feel that the morbidly obese patient should be treated any differently than a patient with breast cancer, or HIV or other ailments.”

Researchers Say Bariatric Surgery Reduces Cancer Risks Up to 80%

Posted by Patient Help Desk on June 8, 2008 under Bariatric Research News | Be the First to Comment

Let’s see, if you’re considering undergoing bariatric surgery, what are some of the possible benefits? Well, of course there’s the motivation to control your hunger and drop those harmful, unwanted pounds. And of course, a growing number of studies suggest that these procedures may reduce the development of various cardiovascular conditions, as well as diabetes. But now, research is emerging that may point the way towards these procedures’ startling cancer-fighting potential!

According to a Canadian study, five years after having this procedure, breast and colon cancer rates were shown to decrease by 80%. These are two of the most common cancers types. For this study, it was found that breast cancer’s incidence rate decreased by 85%, while colon cancer incidence rates decreased by 70%.

So far, medical experts are unclear as to just how weight reduction contributes to decreases in cancer incidences. One theory proposed is that of the role of fat in various cancers, including breast cancer. Fat secretes estrogen, which may play a part in these cancers’ development. So if this fat is lost, it may reduce cancer development, while also decreasing amounts of potentially harmful hormones, as well.

“This is really powerful information,” says Dr. Philip Schauer of the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine, as well as the past president of the American Society of Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery. “It reaffirms that obesity is a profound risk factor for cancer” and shows that “weight loss does seem to affect the development of new cancers.”

However, this attitude is not universally shared by all researchers. First and foremost, the study only goes back five years, and cancer typically requires much longer to form. In addition, before these patients undergo weight loss surgery, they receive various cancer-screening tests, such as colonoscopies, endoscopies and mammograms. Plus, it’s important to point out that the study’s subjects were Canadian, meaning they may not have received continuous cancer screenings. Finally, a large percentage of the study’s subjects had their procedures as long ago as 15 years; as a result, any cancers were given the proper amount of development time.