Taxpayers Increasingly Foot Bill for Bariatric Surgery
This article is the second of an occasional series on the consequences of state efforts to curb spiraling health costs, and the dollars lawmakers might target in the future.
As the ranks of the obese in Texas have swelled, so too has state and federal lawmakers’ comfort with forking over taxpayer dollars for weight-loss surgery for the elderly and the indigent.
A Texas Tribune analysis of federal and state health care expenditures shows Medicare spending for weight-loss surgeries for Texas seniors — everything from gastric bypass to gastric banding — grew by nearly 400 percent between 2006 and 2010, from $340,000 ...
Comments (5)
Stella Fitzgibbons
Would taxpayers rather "fork over" for two weeks in intensive care for uncontrolled diabetes and soft tissue infections that antibiotics can't reach through six inches of fatty tissue? How about heart attacks and strokes caused by extreme obesity? Limit coverage to patients with obesity-related illnesses who have been in weight-loss programs for a reasonable period of time without significant losses and who understand the risks of the surgery. But don't ignore the huge bills that taxpayers are already paying for medical care of the very obese.
Neil Moyer via Texas Tribune on Facebook
trying to reduce waist!
Donald First
Stella, weight -loss surgery has certain Criteria, that has been established over the years, so wheter or not a person truly needs it has already been determined, I am a little more concerned about the cost of the procedure which at $23,000 is twice what Doctors advertise here in DFW
D Miller
Don't see any definition for 'elderly' other than the reference to medicare. If obese people have already made it to the ranks of the 'elderly', this scheme amounts to this group being targeted by surgeons milking the system.
Pat Armstrong
As a registered Nurse, I work with many who have had weight loss surgery.A large number of these people gain part or all the weight back .One can put away many calories after this surgery. They are many reasons for the failure rate being so high. The most significant reason- the patient is usually required to see a therapist one time. This is not enough to discuss and work on a life time of food addictions. The addiction remains and failure is almost guaranteed. In an ideal world, fast food would be an occasional treat, schools would teach and provide healthy foods, there would be easy access to therapy to deal with this serious addiction to sugar, salt and fat in our diets. I am not against weight lose surgery, just the way it is approved without adequate therapy. Healthy eating and exercise is a far better option. As tax payers, we are paying for failure.