WP,pg1: Medicare Changes Policy on Obesity: Some Treatments May Be Covered

[DeepModem Mom]

Medicare Changes Policy on Obesity
Some Treatments May Be Covered
By Rob Stein and Ceci Connolly
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, July 16, 2004; Page A01


The federal Medicare program yesterday abandoned a long-standing policy that obesity is not a disease, removing what has been a major roadblock for many people trying to get treatment for the burgeoning health problem.

After years of review, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which runs the health program for the elderly and disabled, announced it is dropping language that had led the agency to routinely deny coverage for weight-loss therapies.

The decision does not automatically mean any specific treatment will be covered, but it opens the door to what is expected to be a flood of applications from individuals, doctors and companies for Medicare to begin paying for therapies. These include stomach surgery, diet programs, and behavioral and psychological counseling. (Note: weight-loss drugs are not covered.)

"Obesity is a critical public health problem in our country that causes millions of Americans to suffer unnecessary health problems and die prematurely," Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said in announcing the long-awaited decision. "With this new policy, Medicare will be able to review scientific evidence in order to determine which interventions improve health outcomes for seniors and disabled Americans who are obese."....

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Because private insurance companies often pattern their coverage after Medicare, the decision is expected to put strong pressure on them to expand coverage for weight-loss treatments. Representatives from the insurance industry, which recently began scaling back on payments for stomach surgery, welcomed the decision and signaled that companies will take their cues from Mediicare....In addition to the practical implications of getting insurance to pay for more treatment, many experts said the move would help counter the stigma that is often associated with people who are overweight and obese....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52835-2004Jul15.html

[donsu]

1. this is a con - the pharms are about to come out with new fat pills

and they are going to push them in the media and push them on doctors. and it's said that the pills haven't been fully checked out and probably don't work and could cause cancer.

[eridani]

2. New book on obesity myths

http://www.obesitymyth.com/

According to public-health authorities, 65 percent of us are overweight. Every day, we are bombarded with dire warnings about America’s “obesity epidemic.” Close to half of the adult population is dieting, obsessed with achieving an arbitrary “ideal weight.” Yet studies show that a moderately active larger person is likely to be far healthier (and to live longer) than someone who is thin but sedentary. And contrary to what the fifty-billion-dollar-per-year weight-loss industry would have us believe, medical science has not yet come up with a way to make people thin.

After years spent scrutinizing medical studies and interviewing leading doctors, scientists, eating- disorder specialists, and psychiatrists, Professor Paul Campos is here to lead the backlash against weight hysteria—and to show that we can safeguard our health without obsessing about the numbers on the scale. But The Obesity Myth is not just a compelling argument, grounded in the latest scientific research; it’s also a provocative, wry exposé of the culture that feeds on our self-defeating war on fat. Campos will show:

• How the nation’s most prestigious and trusted media sources consistently misinform the public about obesity
• What the movie industry’s love affair with the “fat suit” tells us about the relationship between racial- and body-based prejudice in America
• How the skinny elite—with their “supersized” lifestyles and gas-guzzling SUVs—project their anxieties about overconsumption on the poorer and heavier underclass
• How weight-loss mania fueled the impeachment of Bill Clinton

In this paradigm-busting read, Professor Campos challenges the conventional wisdom regarding the medical, political, and cultural meaning of weight and brings a rational and compelling new voice to America’s increasingly irrational weight debate.