Wisconsin Medicaid Information

NEWS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ronda Einbinder, Public Relations Manager [email protected] 1-866-WLS-INFO ext. 373 OBESITYHELP? INC. MEMBERS FROM ALL 50 STATES PROTEST WISCONSIN MEDICAID'S DECISION TO ELIMINATE BARIATRIC SURGERY BY CONTACTING GOVERNOR'S OFFICE IRVINE, CA - The story went out early Wednesday morning stating that Wisconsin's Governor Jim Doyle had the power to eliminate bariatric surgery from the Medicaid program and by early afternoon the news spread across all 50 ObesityHelp.com ? state message boards resulting in a call to action and a flood of faxes, phone calls and emails to the Governor and Lt. Governor's offices. Acting in response to a state budget cut that would include eliminating bariatric surgery from individuals covered by Medicaid, the ObesityHelp.com? members joined together to voice their concern about this potentially devastating decision. "What the state of Wisconsin is not realizing is that they are not saving money with this decision, instead they will ultimately spend more money on the medical care of those determined to be obese, morbidly obese and super obese," explained Terry Dettmann, Vice President of Operations for ObesityHelp.com ?, who also faxed letters expressing his concern to the Governor and Lt. Governor. "It has been proven time and time again that bariatric surgery is the only effective long term treatment for this disease." With the power of veto before him, Governor Doyle has the option to line-item veto but his decision has not yet been announced. The members of ObesityHelp.com ? are no strangers to the frailty of the insurance industry when it comes to covering this much needed procedure. When Blue Cross of Florida decided to eliminate bariatric surgery as a benefit, the Florida boards were all arise and a chain reaction began where members contacted their local representatives. "Morbid obesity is a major problem," said Dettmann. "The University of Wisconsin recently announced a study showing that obesity in Wisconsin is rising and shows no sign of slowing. The Wisconsin Journal of Medicine reported that 516 Bariatric Surgeries were performed in Wisconsin, where a mean weight loss of 79 percent was reported for these patients. This is an amazing result for a relatively modest cost compared to many medical procedures today." Founded in 1998, ObesityHelp? Inc. is committed to the education, empowerment, and support of all individuals affected by obesity, along with all others (friends, employers, and physicians) concerned. ObesityHelp? Inc. aspires to defeat ignorance, isolation, and discrimination against the clinical disease of obesity. ObesityHelp.com ? serves over 300,000 members nation wide and is visited by millions of others who suffer from obesity. To fax your concern to Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton's office, please send your letter to: 608-267-3571. For more information on ObesityHelp ? Inc. please contact 1-(866) WLS-INFO ext. 373 or visit our website at http://www.obesityhelp.com. ______________________________________________________________ Mark Luethold Member Services Obesityhelp.com Phone 1-866-957-4636 # 387 AOL IM screen name: hadleydriver Yahoo Messenger name: hadleydriver and my MSN Messenger name is also: hadleydriver My Obesityhelp.com email address is; [email protected] My page link on Obesityhelp.com: http://obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=L992011622 My wife's profile link: http://www.obesityhelp.com/morbidobesity/profile.phtml?N=L990081250 Here is a link for our website's magazine too: http://www.obesityhelpmagazine.com/