Obesity Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Obesity, including details on health, diet, prevention, exercise.

Trends in insurance coverage for bariatric surgery and the impact of evidence-based reviews.

Safadi BY

Department of Surgery, Stanford University 300 Pasteur Drive, H 3591, Stanford, CA 94305, USA. bsafadi@stanford.edu

The recent increase in demand for bariatric surgery has placed mounting economic pressure on insurance companies and other third-party payers (TPPs). As a result, some of the TPPs have responded by excluding or limiting their coverage of all or certain types of bariatric surgical procedures, and cite as their reason, a lack of evidence that supports the safety and efficacy of such procedures. Over the years, so-called "evidence-based reviews" have been used to back these claims. Some of these reviews have significant flaws and limitations that are discussed.

Published 2 August 2005 in Surg Clin North Am, 85(4): 665-80, v.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Obesity Research Today. All Rights Reserved.