NEW ORLEANS — For more than two decades, our Weight Loss Wednesday report has covered patients with obesity, who were cleared for bariatric surgery, but whose health insurance did not cover the procedures.
Now Louisiana law is catching up with two dozen other states that mandate that coverage.
For years, bariatric surgery for people with obesity has been proven safe, and effective for weight loss.
“Obesity is a brain disease in which our brain tells our body to eat more, and store more. We have to remember it's a chronic relapsing disease that doesn't get better on its own. It doesn't get better with diet, and exercise alone,” said Dr. Shauna Levy, bariatric surgeon and Medical Director of the Tulane Weight Loss Center.
Diet and exercise are the initial foundation of weight loss for everyone, but multiple studies show it leads to around a four percent loss. That's about 10 to 15 pounds.
“But for people with the disease of obesity, it's not enough. It doesn't treat the hormones that regulate the hunger pathways that really drive this disease.”
So, for years patients have turned to obesity specialists such as Dr. Levy for one of the bariatric surgery procedures that changes the size, and shape of the stomach, and may even help with dysregulated hunger hormones, but patients faced financial roadblocks.
“We're literally turning away people every single day, that come to our clinic, and want bariatric surgery, but have had Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, and didn't have access to care,” she said.
But that is changing. Governor Jeff Landry recently signed a new law requiring commercial state health insurance plans to cover bariatric surgery.
It's estimated that when this goes into effect in January, close to a million more people in Louisiana will be eligible to get bariatric surgery.
“It's so important, because obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death, and Louisiana is one of the highest states of obesity. And one of the reasons obesity is getting worse, and worse is we haven't been offering appropriate treatments for this disease,” explained Dr. Levy.
Dr. Levy, and colleagues, are still pushing for the state to require coverage for weight loss injections of GLP-1s. That bill did not make it through the legislature this year. The doctors want coverage for comprehensive care for obesity.
“Anti-obesity medications, bariatric surgery, therapy, counseling, dietetic education, you know, you name it. We're going to continue to advocate for our patients.”
The new law is for all commercial plans bought through the state, not national plans like Medicaid.
It is also not for groups that are self-insured.
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