Medicaid & Weight Loss Surgery

Medicaid, a government insurance program for the disabled and elderly, states in its official documents that it does cover weight loss surgery when specific requirements are met by both the patient and attending surgeon.

Considerations

Patients seeking weight loss surgery must usually be more than 100 pounds overweight and often have potentially life-threatening conditions such as diabetes or high blood pressure.

Certification

Medicaid only approves bariatric surgeries at government-certified centers. There were 450 eligible facilities listed on its website as of December 2009.

Criteria

Medicaid will not cover any type of weight loss surgery for a patient who is simply overweight. They must have a co-morbidity such as sleep apnea or other respiratory problems, heart disease or a history of cancer or stroke.

Types

The most common bariatric surgery covered by Medicaid is the gastric bypass, which reduces the stomach size and reroutes the intestines to promote weight loss.

Senior Citizens

Before 2006, Medicaid excluded coverage of weight loss surgery for those over 65 years of age, citing an increased risk of surgical mortality. As of 2009, senior citizens medically cleared for surgery can proceed.