Obesity - Is This Really a Fact Insurance Companies Should Deal With?
Most people receive their health care through managed care companies or health maintenance organizations; unfortunately, few include treatments for obesity. Obesity is a serious disease associated with increased mortality rates and an independent cause of hypertension, type-2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, degenerative joint disease and several types of cancer. These disorders are the most common, are very serious and cost a lot when treated.
There are many people that are prescribed treatment for obesity, but their health insurance neither covers nor reimburses those services, however many insurance companies will pay for treating conditions caused by obesity, such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease. But these two conditions as serious as they are represent only the tip of an iceberg, as the list includes more. Because of this lack of coverage, more people are in need of obesity treatment services. For many overweight and obese individuals the costs of services are a deterrent to seeking and receiving treatment, they simply do not have adequate funds to pay for treatment out of pocket.
It is a very dejected fact, that obese patients get little support from health insurance institutions. For making a change, individual physicians, other health care providers and their patients and families need to be proactive in obtaining improved reimbursement. Patients should be encouraged to talk with their employers about including coverage, health care professionals should also take opportunities such as health fairs and meetings with state and federal elected officials to communicate the true picture of the obesity and the need for treatment. In such efforts, confidence and persistence counts and in the past years luckily the opinion about obesity has significantly changed. The health care system is already paying millions of dollars treating disorders that could be prevented or ameliorated by sustained weight loss, so let your voice be heard.
