Gastric
Bypass Cost
Most insurance companies will pay for gastric bypass surgery procedures
that are medically necessary. Morbid obesity is a life threatening
disease and it is normally covered.
Aetna Insurance is now asking for the patients entire medical
work-up along with the pre-authorization request as well as documented
weight loss attempts supervised by a physician for the last 2 years.
They also want documented weight history for the last 5 years.
Many insurance plans do not provide reimbursement for weight loss
treatment. According to many practitioners, few private insurance
indemnity plans or managed care organizations appear to cover the
costs of obesity treatment regardless of whether the service is
a medically supervised program of weight reduction or maintenance,
nutrition counseling, surgery or a pharmaceutical product. The
countless number of available insurance plans and ever changing
policies have made it difficult to assess the extent to which obesity
treatment and prevention services are covered by third party insurers.
More data and better tracking is necessary to determine the health
needs of persons with obesity.
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