The answer to this is very complex. Many insurers do not want to cover weight loss surgery because of the significant costs involved. Most people are with an insurer for a short period of time so that there is very little incentive for many insurers to care about preventative medicine. In short, the gastric bypass is covered by most insurance companies. However, some have placed a number of difficult roadblocks to surgery. The LAP-BAND® is covered by only a few insurance companies.

You will want to obtain a copy of your current insurance policy to determine if these procedures are covered. Insurance details can be difficult to navigate, and our insurance specialists will gladly assist you in determining if these procedures are a covered benefit in your plan.

If you're lucky, the weight loss institution you choose will handle insurance matters for you. In any event, you might be surprised to learn that many insurance companies will cover the treatment of health problems caused by obesity but not obesity itself. So it is a good idea to have a basic understanding of what your insurance will cover prior to setting up a meeting with a bariatric surgeon.

Answer: It depends completely on your insurance company, and on your particular plan. Things also change with time. We try to maximize your chances of being approved the first time we submit. The BPD/DS is somewhat more difficult to gain approval for than the RNY, although more and more companies are covering the DS, including Medicare.

Most insurance carriers will cover weight loss surgery with proof of medical necessity. Each candidate will need to check with his or her benefits representative or read their medical insurance policy, as some contracts are written with exclusions for weight loss surgery.

After you complete the preoperative work-up, our staff will write a letter to your insurance company. We explain to them that weight loss surgery is NOT a cosmetic procedure, but is an operation which will help you avoid major health problems later in life. Most insurance companies will usually cover the procedure if you meet the criteria. Unfortunately, some insurance policies have a clause which absolutely excludes coverage of weight loss surgery.

Many insurance companies now recognize obesity as a substantial health risk and are paying for bariatric surgery.

Most insurance companies provide benefits for weight loss surgery. The courts have ruled that being severely overweight is a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. They have further ruled that health insurance plans cannot discriminate against the severely overweight in providing health insurance benefits. This means that your insurance carrier is required to provide health insurance benefits for the severely overweight on a non-discriminatory basis.

Depending on the type of coverage, most commercial insurance carriers will pay the major share of the cost. You should always consult your insurance company to determine proper coverage.

The HMR Program is not typically covered by health insurance. This program is recommended for adults only. Some of the material used for the HMR website content is owned by Health Management Resources Corporation (HMR) of Boston, Massachusetts, and is used with its permission. Click on the Notices and Disclaimers link for more specific information about the relationship of HMR and this site and other important information. Notices and Disclaimers

Not as much as you might think. If you have dropped just a small amount of weight, you may have already lost 5 percent of your usual body weight. As an example, if you normally weigh 150 pounds and you lose only 7-1/2 pounds, you have lost 5 percent of your usual body weight.

Candidates for surgery are usually at least 100 pounds over their ideal body weight. Another measure of obesity is the body mass index (BMI) The body mass index is your height in kilograms divided by the square of your height in meters. There are several web sites that have body mass calculators. Generally a body mass of 40 or higher qualifies for surgery, or over 35 with certain health problems called co-morbidities.

Most patients lose weight rapidly for 18 to 24 months after surgery. Some patients may then regain some of their lost weight, although few will regain it all. Surgery also improves most obesity related health problems, such as diabetes.

There are several different kinds of surgical procedures to help people who are significantly overweight. By reducing the size of the stomach, these procedures restrict the amount of food you can consume. Long-term success depends in large part on permanently following a restricted diet and making major lifestyle changes.

This really depends on the type of weight loss surgery you have and the type of job you do. For lap band surgery the procedures are usually done laparoscopically and don't require stapling or rearranging of your stomach anatomy, thus your hospitalization is usually less than 24 hours. And your recovery can be as little as a few days. For gastric bypass surgery, most patients can proceed with a regular activities after 6 weeks.

The lap band procedure is reversible and does not modify your internal anatomy. Stomach stapling is designed to be permanent, but in general gastric bypass procedures are reversible. But ask your doctor about your specific procedure.

Answer: If you are considering Weight Loss Surgery, we recommend that one of the first things you do is to contact your insurance company and speak to a customer service agent. Ask if you have benefits for WLS. If you do not, an available option is self-pay. If you do have coverage, most of the insurance companies are requesting evidence of a medically-supervised weight loss attempt over a six-month period of time.

There are many preoperative insurance requirements prior to weight loss surgery, many specific to each individual plan. Each candidate must meet basic medical requirements as outlined by the NIH (LINK). In addition, there may be further dietary and exercise requirements necessary prior to surgical intervention. Many insurance companies require a period of a physician-supervised weight loss. Depending on your insurance plan, this will be explained to you individually.

It depends. Some health insurance plans specifically exclude coverage for WLS. You can begin the process by calling your insurance carrier's 800 number and asking if "Weight Loss Surgery is covered for the morbidly obese?" Surgeons send each insurance carrier a comprehensive evaluation of the patient's health. The insurance company may approve appropriate candidates for the surgery on a case-by-case basis.

It may be true that some muscle is lost during rapid weight loss, but this can probably be mostly overcome by exercise. Below is the weight training record of a 20-year-old student who lost 103 pounds in 161 days (0.64 pounds per day). In addition to all of this, my cardiovascular endurance has improved 10-fold. When I arrived, I could do no more than 30 minutes of any sort of cardio. Now, I am doing about 4 hours of cardio each day.

Yes. Please advise us that you wish to purchase insurance in the comments section during the checkout process. There will be an extra charge for this service which we will notify you of prior to processing your order.

Your parent’s homeowner’s insurance may cover your belongings. If that is not an option, consider purchasing renter’s insurance to protect your possessions. For more information, visit our link at http://orlh.nd.edu/housing/undergraduate/general/insurance.htm.

SRC does not recommend specific bariatric surgeons or groups. Please contact the ASMBS or go to their Web site, www.ASMBS.org, for a list of the members. Keep in mind, however, that not all bariatric surgeons belong to the ASMBS.

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Typically, patients lose about 60-80% of their excess body weight after duodenal switch. This compares to 50-75% for the gastric bypass and 40-60% for the LAP-BAND®.  First, it is necessary to calculate your body mass index, or BMI. There is a BMI calculator located on the home page of this duodenal switch forum. There is a definite lower limit for for weight loss surgery.

A3. Patients undergo a thorough screening process at the Weight loss institute of Arizona to identify whether they are appropriate candidates for surgery. Surgical candidates need to be at least 100 pounds overweight. A more accurate measurement is the Body Mass Index or BMI. Surgical candidates need to have a BMI above 30 or a BMI above 30 with other obesity-related conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.