WLS pays for itself within 2 yrs - study

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Weight-Loss Surgery Pays for Itself After 2 Years, Study Shows

By Chantal Britt

Sept. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Insurers recover their costs for gastric

surgery within two to four years for obese patients whose weight puts

their lives in danger, according to a study published today in the

American Journal of Managed Care.

The funds devoted to keyhole weight-loss surgery were fully recovered

after 25 months, said researchers led by Pierre-Yves Cremieux from

the University of Quebec in Montreal. The costs fell by $900 a month

after just 13 months compared with expenses for obese patients who

didn't have the procedure.

Weight-loss surgery, also known as bariatric surgery, is used to help

obese people attain a more healthy body weight if diet and exercise

programs have failed. It involves stapling or banding the stomach to

divert or restrict food intake and absorption. The creation of a

smaller stomach pouch has been shown to reduce the risk of heart

disease, diabetes and cancer in previous studies.

``We have identified the breakeven point for insurers,'' said

Cremieux, a professor of economics. ``This is a surgery that

basically pays for itself within a relatively short period of time.''

Ethicon Endo-Surgery Inc., a manufacturer of minimally invasive and

traditional surgical devices and instruments for bariatric surgery,

funded the research.

A team of economists and surgeons compared insurance claims for care,

surgery and complications filed by 3,651 weight-loss surgery patients

with claims from obese patients who didn't have such procedures. They

used a private insurer claims database with more than 5 million

people from 31 companies.

Multiple Conditions

All patients were obese and most suffered from multiple obesity-

related conditions including hypertension, diabetes, increased blood

fat levels and sleep apnea. The patients were on average 44 years

old, and 86 percent were female.

Reductions in costs associated with prescription drugs, physician

visits and hospital services offset the $17,000 average cost costs of

keyhole surgery within about two years and the $26,000 average cost

for traditional, open weight-loss surgery within about four years,

the research showed.

The medical costs of open weight-loss surgery were fully recovered in

as few as 49 months from 2003 to 2005, compared with 77 months from

1999 to 2002. The discrepancy can be explained by improvements in

surgical techniques.

``Treating morbid obesity with bariatric surgery makes clinical sense

and now it makes economic sense, even accounting for potential

complications from surgery,'' said co-author Henry Buchwald, a

professor of surgery at the University of Minnesota.

Saves Lives

About 205,000 people had some form of weight-loss surgery last year

and more than 15 million people in the U.S. are obese, according to

the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery. The two most

common procedures are gastric bypass and gastric banding. Weight-loss

surgery doesn't include stomach reductions such as tummy tuck and

liposuction.

``When you add the health benefits of bariatric surgery including

resolution or improvement of significant diseases like type 2

diabetes, sleep apnea and hypertension to its cost benefit, you have

a procedure that not only saves the health care system money, it

saves lives,'' said Shikora, co- author and surgeon at Tufts-

New England Medical Center.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chantal Britt at

cbritt@....

Last Updated: September 8, 2008 07:18 EDT