Would your insurance plan cover the costs of bariatric (weight-loss) surgery? This is obviously a question you would need to answer before pursuing such surgery. And it’s the subject of a recent article in the Kansas City Star.

An excerpt:

The average cost of the most common bariatric surgery can vary from about $14,000 to $23,000, though costs of up to $30,000 to $35,000 have been reported. Coverage varies widely from one health insurance plan to another.

Health providers use a height- and weight-based calculation known as body mass index to determine whether a person is overweight or obese. Bariatric surgery is usually considered if a patient has a BMI exceeding 40, or a BMI greater than 35 if accompanied by medical conditions such as diabetes.

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Related article on this website: Insurance Coverage for Weight Loss Surgery 

As a potential patient for weight-loss surgery, imagine if you could accurately predict the risk factors involved. According to a recent article in Science Daily, that appears to be the case.

Researchers at Duke University developed a simple scoring system that takes into account five medical factors of patients undergoing bariatric surgery — weight, gender, age, blood pressure and risk of blood clotting. This data is used to predict how the patient will do during the actual surgery.

An excerpt:

“This represents the first validated scoring system for assessing risk for patients considering bariatric surgery,” said Duke surgeon Eric DeMaria, M.D., who developed the system. “The system gives surgeons concrete data they can use in surgical decision-making and in their discussions with patients. Also, the system provides standardization of surgical outcomes, making comparisons among centers more meaningful.”

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