BC/BS of Florida has announced it will stop covering gastric bypass

On cnn.com The Jacksonville-based company says safety is the main reason it will drop the $30,000- surgery, also known as stomach stapling, which is considered a last resort for morbidly obese people trying to lose weight. Dr. Robert Forster, the company's chief medical officer and vice president for health care services, said about three in every 1,000 patients die and up to 20 percent of patients return to the hospital for a second procedure. There has also been a spike in demand for the surgery, which would have cost the insurer about $200 million over the next few years and could have lead to higher premiums, Forster said. The surgery's popularity has grown because of the success that celebrities, such as television weatherman Al Roker and singer Carnie Wilson, have had with it. That has prompted commercialization and the spread of information -- on the Internet, radio and elsewhere -- on how to get around strict guidelines as to who can safely undergo the surgery, Forster said. Doctors with limited experience also are jumping on the bandwagon to take advantage of the high demand, he said. Forster acknowledged successful surgery reduces other health problems such as diabetes, but he said some patients encounter new problems. About 30 percent of patients develop nutritional deficiencies such as anemia, osteoporosis and metabolic bone disease, according to the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Anthony Terracina, who specializes in the surgery, said he is no longer accepting patients at Surgical Associates of Northwest Florida and will leave the state in June because the surgery is cost-prohibitive without insurance coverage for most people. He plans to relocate to Hampton Roads, Virginia, because Virginia law requires insurers to cover the surgery. "It just doesn't make any sense that the insurance companies would do this," Terracina said. "Obesity is the No. 1 health problem in the United States. Why wouldn't you help those patients and keep them out of the hospital?"

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