Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

The Effect of Insurance Status on Pre- and Post-operative Bariatric Surgery Outcomes

  • Brief Communication
  • Published:
Obesity Surgery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Background

This study compared pre- and post-surgical data and outcomes among gastric bypass patients based on the type of insurance (Medicaid, Medicare, or private).

Methods

Data were examined from 2553 consecutive RYGB patients at a rural ASMBS Center of Excellence.

Results

Participants were primarily female (80.5 %), Caucasian (97.1 %), and middle-aged (45.9 years). Medicaid patients’ BMI at consultation was significantly higher than the other two groups (p < 0.001). Time to surgery was significantly longer for Medicaid (13.2 %) and Medicare (7.1 %) patients compared with privately insured patients (p < 0.001). Pre-surgical weight loss and post-surgical percent of excess weight loss nadir did not differ among the groups. Type 2 diabetes remission rates were comparable across insurance groups.

Conclusions

Medicaid patients, although demographically different from their privately insured and Medicare counterparts, will benefit from surgery with comparable weight loss results and overall diabetes remission rates.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [Internet]. Baltimore: CMS. [cited April 2, 2014]. Available from: www.healthcare.gov.

  2. U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [Internet]. Baltimore: CMS. [cited April 2, 2014]. Available from: www.medicaid.gov.

  3. Finkelstein EA, Fiebelkorn IC, Wang G: National medical spending attributable to overweight and obesity: how much, and who’s paying? Health Aff (Millwood) 2003, Suppl Web Exclusives:W3-219-226.

  4. Alexander JW, Goodman HR, Martin Hawver LR, et al. The impact of medicaid status on outcome after gastric bypass. Obes Surg. 2008;18(10):1241–5.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Decker SL. In 2011 nearly one-third of physicians said they would not accept new Medicaid patients, but rising fees may help. Health Aff (Millwood). 2012;31(8):1673–9.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Akkary E, Nerlinger A, Yu S, et al. Socioeconomic predictors of weight loss after laparoscopic Roux-Y gastric bypass. Surg Endosc Other Interv Tech. 2009;23(6):1246–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Durkin AJ, Bloomston M, Murr MM, et al. Financial status does not predict weight loss after bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 1999;9(6):524–6.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Dallal RM, Datta T, Braitman LE. Medicare and Medicaid status predicts prolonged length of stay after bariatric surgery. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2007;3(6):592–6.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Pickett-Blakely OE, Huizinga MM, Clark JM. Sociodemographic trends in bariatric surgery utilization in the USA. Obes Surg. 2012;22(5):838–42.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Wood GC, Chu X, Manney C, et al. An electronic health record-enabled obesity database. BMC Med Inform Decis Mak. 2012;12(1):45.

    Article  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Still CD, Wood GC, Chu X, et al. Clinical factors associated with weight loss outcomes after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2014;22(3):888–94.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Still CD, Wood GC, Benotti P, et al. Argyropoulos. A probability score for preoperative prediction of type 2 diabetes remission following RYGB surgery. Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol. 2014;2(1):38–45.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Balduf LM, Kohn GP, Galanko JA, et al. The impact of socioeconomic factors on patient preparation for bariatric surgery. Obes Surg. 2009;19(8):1089–95.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgment

This research was supported by research funds from the Geisinger Health System and the National Institute of Health (NIH) grants DK072488 (GSG, CDS, GA), DK088231 (GSG), DK091601 (GSG), and P30DK072488 (BAI). The preparation of this manuscript was supported, in part, by NIH fellowship support from 1F32HD066939-01A (SH) and F32DK096756 (MRL).

Conflicts of Interest

We report the following role of funding sources and conflicts of interest:

• Dr. Foster served as a consultant to ConAgra Foods and Tate & Lyle during the time of this study. Dr. Foster is currently a full-time employee of Weight Watchers International.

• Dr. Napolitano received funding from the Living Heart Foundation.

• All other authors report no conflict of interest or financial disclosures.

Ethical Approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed Consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study to participate in a larger, longitudinal study. The current analyses were approved by the Geisinger Medical Center Institutional Review Board.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Keiser University, 10330 South Federal Highway, Port Saint Lucie, FL, 34952, USA

    Sharon Hayes

  2. Department of Prevention and Community Health and Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, 950 New Hampshire Ave., Third Fl, Washington, D.C., 20052, USA

    Melissa A. Napolitano

  3. Center for Obesity Research and Education, Temple University, 3223 N. Broad Street, Suite 175, Philadelphia, PA, 19140, USA

    Michelle R. Lent & Gary D. Foster

  4. Geisinger Obesity Research Institute, Geisinger Medical Center, 100 North Academy Avenue, Danville, PA, 17822, USA

    G. Craig Wood, Brian A. Irving, George Argyropoulos & Christopher D. Still

  5. Penn State Hershey Institute for Personalized Medicine, 500 University Drive, Hershey, PA, 17033, USA

    Glenn S. Gerhard

Authors
  1. Sharon Hayes
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Melissa A. Napolitano
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Michelle R. Lent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. G. Craig Wood
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Glenn S. Gerhard
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Brian A. Irving
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  7. George Argyropoulos
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  8. Gary D. Foster
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  9. Christopher D. Still
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sharon Hayes.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Hayes, S., Napolitano, M.A., Lent, M.R. et al. The Effect of Insurance Status on Pre- and Post-operative Bariatric Surgery Outcomes. OBES SURG 25, 191–194 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-014-1478-5

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11695-014-1478-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation