- It can shorten your life.
- It diminishes your daily quality of life.
- Regular visits with your doctor are required to treat symptoms.
- Prescription medication is needed to keep symptoms from worsening.
- It can happen to anyone of any age, ethnic background, family history or economic level.
Obesity is a chronic, life-threatening disease.
It’s a disease that encourages a number of obesity-related medical complications such as heart disease, cancer, sleep apnea, type 2 diabetes and risk of stroke.
As a community, if we come together as a team — patients, healthcare professionals and medical insurance companies ─ to finally overcome this chronic disease, our nation’s quality of life would skyrocket.
Insurance Companies Can Help in the Fight Against Obesity
Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, New Jersey’s biggest insurer, recently publicized a new program for overweight patients in which it works closely with primary care physicians to encourage patients to live healthier lives (through weight management).
Thanks to this program, the cost of care has already declined 4%.
Here are two other important ways in which medical insurance companies can step up to help people deal with excess weight:
- Expand the number of patient visits to dietitians.
- Improve the speed of approval for patients to undergo bariatric weight loss surgery who have already tried traditional diets and exercise plans.
If medical insurance companies truly want to curb exploding expenses, they must finally acknowledge the obesity epidemic by aggressively expanding covered services.
In addition, they need to increase the speed of bariatric surgery approval for patients who are categorized “morbidly obese” (more than 100 pounds overweight).
Learn More About the Obesity Epidemic
To learn more, read an interview with Dr. Seun in the Asbury Park Press on July 26, 2014, about obesity, bariatric surgery and our nation’s need to move forward with an action plan to help the nation’s overweight population.
About Dr. Seun Sowemimo, MD, FACS
“Dr. Seun” is a top NJ bariatric surgeon and the medical director at Prime Surgicare, with offices in Freehold serving Monmouth and Ocean counties. He is board-certified, Columbia and Yale University fellowship-trained in advanced laparoscopic, bariatric and general surgery.
To learn more, visit his YouTube channel or call Prime Surgicare at (732)-982-2002.