Major Health Insurance Carrier Changes Requirements for Bariatric Surgery
Posted on November 21, 2014 at 12:00 AM by Jon Hardersen
Major Health Insurance Carrier Changes
Requirements for Bariatric Surgery
Des Moines, IA (October, 2014) –Blue Cross Blue Shield recently announced changes to their requirements to qualify more patients with diabetes for bariatric surgery. The average lifetime cost of a person with diabetes is around $85,000. The cost of bariatric surgery, which has shown to reduce and even eliminate the need for medication, is minimally less.
“Type 2 diabetes is responsible for 10% of all healthcare expenses in the United States. These new requirements give these patients an opportunity to get off of all of their medications,” states Dr. Todd Eibes, lead bariatric surgeon at Iowa Weight Loss Specialists.
The generic insurance requirements to qualify for bariatric surgery are as follows:
- BMI > 40 or BMI > 35-40 if having sleep apnea, hypertension, osteoarthritis, or diabetes
- 6 months of medically supervised diet visits with primary care provider/internal medicine provider
- Mental health evaluation
- Pre-surgical consultation by Surgeon
- Pre-surgical commitment of following diet and exercise life-long following surgery
Blue Cross Blue Shield has changed to include the following requirements for those with diabetes.
- BMI>30-35 with diabetes or metabolic syndrome
- Primary care provider needs to provide a document explaining history of weight management attempts and unable to maintain sustained weight loss
Dr. Todd Eibes, also states, “These new requirements give patients an opportunity to possibly get off all their medication.“
About Iowa Weight Loss Specialists
At Iowa Weight Loss Specialists, we believe in having a comprehensive team of medical professionals to provide the care that you need. Our team is lead by Dr. Todd Eibes MD, FACS, who has been performing weight loss surgery for over 13 years and has done nearly 2,000 weight loss surgeries.
For more information about Iowa Weight Loss Specialists, visit www.iowaweightloss.com.
Media Contact: Michele Farrell Phone: 515.419.8357 Email: mfarrell@measuredintentions.com
