Obesity Surgery in South Carolina
The state of South Carolina has created a certain state health plan that includes making obesity surgery for the state worker. What does this imply? This implies the stomach shirking surgery.
This is a pilot program that is about to start with January 2011. On a first come it will cover at most of 100 people that will have gastric bypass surgery or lap – band one. While a normal any of these two surgeries, costs around 24,000 dollars one, the state has asked for the health budget next year to covert them all and as well the Legislature added another 19 million dollars, as the new federal health care law has extend, to dependents up to 26 years old.
The obesity problem was taken under the wing of the government, as it is a problem that concerns almost the entire America and something must be done in this regard. That is one more reason for which the Budget and the Control Board was directed to create it as a part of the worker’s benefits for 2011.
In South Carolina the obesity rates have doubled since 1990, out of which 30 percentage of the adults find themselves in this situation. Two of three adults in the state, are considered to be obese, and this is really something they should worry about.
Apart from the risk of lowering the number of people obesity puts you to the risk of catching diabetes, heart disease, cancer and as well, sleep apnea. These numbers will soon make the medical system unable to face all the obesity cases, as more than I billion dollars annually is spent on obesity related illnesses in the South Carolina state.
Anyhow, as this pilot begins, the patients will be under supervision for as much as eighteen months time to see whether any complications occur and as well to be careful that they will not go on the same path from that moment on. Once they took advantage of this surgery, they can at least take better care of their health.
Anyhow, not everyone is good about this decision, as according to a Republican state senator, in this period of recession it is not indicated that the state accounts for these expensive surgeries. He as well believes that the long term money saving is not an accurate percentage. This is the same person that proposed during last year, that the obese people should pay an extra $25 in their health care premium. Moreover, he says that starting next year; he will reward the people that have normal weight with lowering their health premiums by $15 to $25 monthly. “Those who are grossly obese probably incur greater costs to the health plan than those who smoke,” he said.11
