The Disappearance of Insurance Coverage for Weight Reduction Surgery

While Americans grow fatter, insurers' coverage of weight loss surgery is shrinking. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that obesity is poised to become the leading cause of mortality in the United States by 2005.¹ Yet, this surgical treatment option for the one in fifty Americans who have a BMI of 40 kg/m² or more—or are more than 100 lb overweight—is being trimmed.

Insurers claim they cannot afford to pay for surgery that they believe to be risky. Bariatric procedures have a mortality rate of 0.3%, which may be on the …