Convincing employer to add rider?

I've been informed by my insurance (Anthem Healthkeepers HMO) that my policy has  no rider for obesity treatment and that it is up to my employer to provide. I called the benefits office to clarify this and was told that "they" had talked about it and "they" decided not to provide the rider because of "statistics, failure rate, you might gain back the weight, high complication rate....yada, yada.."  Who are "they" and where do "they" get their information?  Anyway, I was so upset by the person repeatedly telling me that "they" wouldn't be getting a rider that I asked what the statistics were for morbid obesity, but hey, I can just die and "they" and the insurance company could save a whole bunch of money! And then I hung up the phone. Please forgive the rant -- I know I need to take a calmer and more rational approach. Can anyone give me pointers in dealing with my employer?

Well...probably telling them "I'll just DIE then" is a bad thing. In seriousness though, get your own statistics, studies, and information, be armed with it, and be prepared to fight for your WLS. Also, collect all your family history (genetic predisposition, yanno), your own medical history, and anything that is caused by, exacerbated by, or will be complicated by morbid obesity.

Thanks, Meg, for the words of encouragement.  I am beginning to get (I hope) a more rational handle on the situation, but it remains a touchy issue at best. I will collect all my info and proceed calmly. . . . Natalie

Hi...I had the same problem with my employer....so I was advised by my surgeons office to seek legal consul. Sometimes when a lawyer steps in with the human resource office where you work things happen.....so I called and spoke to Kelly at ObesityLaw.com and she was able to help me get the exclusion off of our companys insurance company. It's definitly worth a try.

Thank you for the suggestion, Laura.  I had been to the ObesityLaw website before, but didn't try contacting them since they are CA and I'm in VA.  Closer reading on their website suggests they might be able to help (advocacy) or at least have an idea or two.  I will contact my surgeon's office and see if they have any suggestions -- would there be ethical issues in asking them to give me names of lawyers?  I guess they'll be able to answer that. I see you are scheduled for surgery soon.  I wish you the very best! Natalie

Natalie.....it was my surgeon's office that told me about ObesityLaw.com. Kelly called me today and I again thanked her for all her help. I told her I was mentioning her website on here and she was very pleased. She is very nice and because you are out of state it would be worth giving her a call....if she can't help you she could probably give you advice on whom to talk to. Thank you for the best wishes on my surgery. Laura

I also have hired the Lawyers at ObesityLaw.com; We're pushing to get the 6-month Healthy Roads program waived.  Since they've won on this issue more than once, I'm pretty confident. :D