Medicare

If bariatric surgeons really want to help cut down (sorry for the pun) obesity and help people work toward better health and a decline in the co-morbidities, they would accept Medicare, which considers WLS as the only way to cure obesity. My surgeon, Dr. Paul Cirangle, was listed by Medicare as being the number one surgeon recommended by Medicare.  He refuses to accept Medicare, citing the amount of paperwork involved.  That what he office staff for. Since many obese people in this country cannot afford medical insurance and have to rely on Medicare or the state financed Medi-Cal, the so-called pioneers in the bariatric surgical field are closed to them.   My wife and I found it important enough to take $18K in equity out of the house to pay for the surgery.  The flagship of the Sutter Medical Group in SF, through an arrangement with LAPSF, also WILL NOT accept Medicare for their surgeries performed by these surgeons, although they normally accept Medicare. Greed, not altruism, fuels their drive for surgical patients.