Question:
How do you feel about a major retailer that has the following listed as not covered:

Diet / Obesity Charges including medications,diet supplements, counseling(including nutritional counseling), and office visits for diet programs, appetite control, weight control and the treatment of obesity or morbid obesity, including gastric bypasses, and stapling procedures, even if the participant has other health conditions which might be helped by the reduction of weight. Would you say that this is a no / win battle against "OBESITY"? Would you feel like this retailer is ANTI-OBESE? WHY?    — sherri parker (posted on April 10, 2003)

April 10, 2003
Just a thought, does your company support drug rehab? If so you may have a legal case there. If your company will help a person with an addiction to an illegal drug but yet not help an obese person get well, sounds like discrimination to me. It could be hard to prove and with the big comapnies legal battles are usually lost by the little guy. The only way to sock it to the employer is to rally *all* the workers (as in all Wal*Mart employees across the nation/state), and try a class action suit.
   — Pookie B.

April 10, 2003
First of all, healthcare as we all know is major big business. That being said most hospitals and insurance plans exclude most things that will get you healthier. In my state (GA) I contacted the Insurance Commissioner and he spoke with my insurance company. My insurance carrier/workplace were revamping their current plan to totally exclude any weight loss program-no exceptions because many people were having the procedure done. I do not know why this is such a losing battle. I do not think you will get around this company because they have attorneys to sit and find out just how much they can push the envelope without breaking the law. Just how they can exclude you, because it is not important, bottom line, money is more important and you are expendable. I would probably start looking for work elsewhere. They are letting you know just how important you and other people with your same problems are to them. An afterthough, sometimes as in my case, they have a review board that ultimately says yea or no. Ask if there are absolutely no solution to your dilemma before actually giving up and finding employment elsewhere. Gods Speed!
   — Diana D.

April 11, 2003
I am sorry to hear that your insurance is so against WLS. I worked for Wal-Mart for 7 years. For the first 5 years I did not need their insurance. I was insured through my husband. After our divorce I had to get medical insurance so I applied for Wal-Mart's. I will say that it was so expensive I could hardly afford it. The only premium I could afford every payday, made my deductible $1000. In the 2 years I had insurance through Wal-Mart I only used it once. That was for the birth of my son. And let me tell you, my out of pocket expenses were horrible! There were quite a few things that were not covered by my insurance. It seems like Wal-Mart would have a better insurance plan. They are such a big company and employ so many people. I have learned over the years that Wal-Mart is not that great of a company....for more reasons then I can count. I guess one way they make money is to deprive their employees of benefits they deserve. I did not mean for my post to sound like I am bashing Wal-Mart. It is just one more thing they have done that REALLY upsets me. Best of luck. I hope you can find a way around all of their exclusions.
   — Maria S