Can anyone explain...

Why the state of GA mandates by law that insurance companies must offer treatment for morbid obesity, yet their own State Health benefit plan excludes any and all treatments for weight loss? Sounds like it's OK to force others to do it as long as they don't have to.

            This was my consern because my insurance did not cover it and I have blue cross blue shield of GEORGIA. They said that my company had it as an excluded beniafit so I had to pay cash. That is why I used a wonderful surgeon in Alabama. Hug's Jeannie

I would like to know the answer to that as well. I taught school for the state of Georgia for thirty years and have United Health Care of Georgia and I had to pay for my surgery myself as well. There was another young school teacher that had surgery in the same hospital the same day I did and she had to self pay as well.  If you find out the answer to that question please let me know. Wanda 

The truly crazy thing is that prior to July, 1 of 2004 ( I think that year is right), THEY DID NOT HAVE THE EXCLUSION.  I had the Bluechoice HMO and my wife was able to get the surgery done.  We had Emory ru**** and made it in by a day.  Her surgery may have been the last one they covered. It is insane for them to pay millions to treat the symptoms when they could easily provide the cure for many.

We heard through our surgeon's office that there was a large bill that went through the legislature that had the exclusion buried deep within it.  They say that the officials voting on it didn't realize it was there.  We are all encouraged to write our legislators (whether or not we are state employees) to ask them to re include it.

Has anyone been able to figur out which bill it was buried in?  Referencing the specific legislation in our letters may help.

I have BCBS of Georgia and they paid 100 percent of my surgery!  Well, I did get my bill the other day and I have to pay 30.00 out of a 39,000 bill.  Not too shabby!