Should Gastric Banding Surgery Be Government (Taxpayer) Funded?

It seems there has been a rise in the number of fat Australians demanding a gastric band, according to the newspaper this morning.

This has already led some people to insist that a gastric band should be funded by the government - or by the taxpayer.

Should the government have to pay for a gastric band when the fat person just needs to get off their butts and go for a walk, and eat healthy?

It sickens me when people say how happy and proud they are to have lost so much weight...and then they say it's the result of a gastric band. That's not weight loss, that's being selfish and lazy and taking the easy way out.

I'm of the opinion that while us taxpayers should be paying for everyones health care, when it comes to things like obesity - that is caused by the individual themselves - we should draw the line.

Opinions?

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/australians-turn-to-surgery-for-weight-loss/story-e6frea8c-1225955939493

 

Obesity is a life-threatening condition. Would you rather the gov fronted the money for the bypass or spend even more cash down the road caring for resultant issues such as diabetes, heart issues and a host of other problems related to being extremely overweight?

 

You raise a good point, and I will have to think about that some more.

But where does it end? Why should the government have to pay for fat people to have surgery, when that weight loss can be achieved by walking and eating the right foods?

 

It is very dangerous as is surgery and unnecessary when one has the proper support system and attitude, but it's very hard to do on your own

Trust me I know what I am talking about. I once weighed 406# and lost 170# and was not easy and didn't happen over night but it can be done.

Eating is often a substitute for something missing in ones life ans the key to getting it under control is identifying the problem and dealing with it.

I have also had 7 major surgeries in my life and three of them came as the result of what Doctors like to cal a bad outcome which can happen at any time. I died for 5 minutes as a result, but I was lucky I woke up after my OBE.

There is almost a better chance than you think you will not wake up when they put you under for surgery,

I have beaten those odds 10 times, and Brothers and Sisters that's enough.

 

So if the person already has those problems, then it would be wiser to deny the surgery as it just entails higher costs without any resultant savings.

 

Um, contrary to popular belief, not all obesity is caused by lack of excercise or over eating.

So yes, this medical advancement should be an available option to those on Medicare and Medicaid as well.

Although because the band is reversible, and thus the weight can be put back on.

I think that the only option should be gastric bypass, not the band.

The bypass is alot harder to reverse, if at all, and the resultant weight loss more permanent than with the band.

 

Makkedde there appear to be some misconceptions at work here. Before I continue however let me pose this to you.

Should the government, and thus us, pay for someone to get a liver transplant?

Yes?

Then why shouldn't we pay for this medical procedure, when medically nessicary?

Given what I have read here, some appear to be laboring under a false impression here that morbid obesity, is the same as being overweight, and or that the disease is caused by overeating and lack of excercise.

But that the two are one in the same.

And usually, if one is suffering from the disease of morbid obesity, it is/was in point of fact not caused by overeating or lack of excercise but by other factors.

Some of which are beyond the control of the individual.

Factors like genetics.

Or to be more precise, a gene we developed which makes some more likely to survive famine, than others but I digress...into human evolution so.....

Second, when I had my surgery done, it was not a case of just walking into the Dr's office and walking out with either the surgery the lap band.

In my state, they won't even pay for the band at all. (Or well I should say back when I had my surgery they wouldn't.)

To have the gastric by-pass as I did, again at the time.

One had too, go through six months to a year of close, medical supervision of everything from your mental health, to physical excercise, to what and how much of what, you are eating.

Lastly, here's a good place to go find out about morbid obesity, it's causes, and the treatments available for it.

http://www.obesityhelp.com/content/aboutobese.html

I think, that folks should find out what the disease is, and what it's causes are.

Rather than just assuming it's "overeating or lack of excercise" before discussing whether we as a society should allow the poor to avail themselves of these medical treatments.

While true much can be achieved by diet and excercise

Sometimes diet and excercise alone, as anyone who knows about morbid obesity will tell ya, if they are honest that is, diet and excercise alone are simply not enough.

 

This issue falls into the same category of the question: "Should the government pay for lung cancer issues for people who smoked their whole lives?"

Should the taxpayers be forced to pay for treatment of preventable conditions?

I personally don't think so. If you chose not to take care of yourself, you and only you should have to foot the bill to keep the body you wore out functioning.

 

Personally, I'd say the main issue is the cost of the surgery...or actually the cost of any surgery. Cut out the $500K a year surgeon salary and it might be a bit cheaper.
Stop the medical schools from charging an arm and a leg to get the "education".

 

Believe it or not, the highest cost in surgeries is not the Dr.

It's the instruments/medicines they use on ya.

And the Dr's, mal-practice insurance which in most states they are required by law to purchase.

If rather than imposing an unconstitutional mandate on us all.

Obamacare had dealt with tort reform.

We wouldn't have to pay a Dr, 500,000 a year in salary, so they can afford the 100,000 a year buying a product, the government tells them they must buy.

 

I guess you missed the part where we established that morbid obesity is not always "preventable".

Infact, lung cancer (the example used) isn't always either.

There are many people out there, who get lung cancer, and never smoked a day in their lives.

That said, since there are other things we can do to prevent it, (like washing our hands often while at work, and wearing a simple mask) the common cold and flu are just as "preventable", if not more so, as both the disease of morbid obesity and lung cancer are.

Should we ban any coverage for those two disease's as well?

If someone goes to the Dr, not feeling so well.

And is then diagnosed with the flu or the common cold by that Dr.

Should the government not pay for that Dr, visit, or the medicines the Dr, might give you to make you more comfortable as you recuperate.

Because well they didn't wash their hands and wear a mask to prevent catching a cold or the flu?

No?

Then why should we ban these other "preventable" disease's from being covered?

Oh, thaaats right, I forgot, it's pc and just peachy king, to discriminate against, attack, mock, and ridicule those who suffer from the diease of morbid obesity.

Because well they're fat, thats different, and besides, it's "preventable".

How about injuries sustained while playing say, highschool football etc....that is "preventable" too.

Just don't play.

Should be ban any and all coverage for that "preventable" occurrence as well?

See the problem with government making these decisions instead of the patient and their Dr yet libs?

 

Obesity is caused by stuffing yourself full of food and more food.How you could actually come out and claim that it is not is a complete joke. I have a feeling you have problems in the putting the (*)(*)(*)(*)ing fork down area

 

That is a really interesting premise and a new perspective on basic science, or lack thereof.

Obesity is not always preventable? Well, fact says otherwise.

Nothing will cause a human to gain wait when one burns more calories than one is taking in.

Nothing.

It is physically impossible to gain weight when you are not putting food into your body. There is not a single condition that will cause one to gain a single pound if they eat as much or less than there body needs.

Go ahead. Tell us all how one can be obese on a hundred calories a day. Tell us all these mysterious diseases that cancel out the laws of physics.

 

I'll accept this reasoning. If the person is overweight due to a condition that makes it impossible for them to prevent it, then government healthcare could cover it.

So if the person eats a healthy, balanced diet and exercises regularly, but has a condition that still causes them to become fat, it seems fine to cover their healthcare.

If they are fat because they ate too much and didn't exercise enough, let them deal with their issues themselves.

I like the idea of restricting government coverage to people for colds or flu as well. After all, there is no reason for most people to go to the doctor for a cold or the flu. You don't need medical care for minor ailments, you need rest and warm fluids.

It is a foolish waste of resources to let every cold or flu or bump or scrape visit a doctor and there is no reason for taxpayers to pay for it.

 

Only the top surgeons make $500k a year. The average surgeon makes about $300k (which is still a really good income.) The average surgeon performs about 350 surgeries per year. Based on those simple numbers the cost for the surgeon is about $1,000 of the total cost for the surgery.

So cutting their salary in half would cut a $25,000 gastric banding surgery all the way down to $24,500.

Not the most effective way to cut the costs.

 

I'm sorry, what? Morbid obesity can certainly be prevented, simply by putting down your fork.

The only reason people are so fat these days is because they stuff their faces with garbage. Why should they then march into the doctors office and demand a gastric band, because dieting is just too hard? It isn't - they are just to lazy to eat proper foods and go for a walk.

 

It would depend - is the person a heavy drinker? If so, no - unless they can remain sober for say, at least a year.

Because in the majority of cases, people make themselves fat through overeating.

99% of the time, it IS caused by overeating!

Genetics can play a part, but not in most cases. Most people are fat because they eat too much. It's as simple as that.

If you managed to get through that, why couldn't you continue it instead of getting that gastric band?

It's not an assumption, though, it's a fact. The vast majority of obese people have poor diets and they don't exercise. They eat more calories per day than they burn off.

But the fatties should at least TRY these first. Find a diet and stick to it. If you keep eating junk food, you are not sticking to the diet, so you can't say 'The diet didn't work'. The diet IS working, as long as you stick to it!

 

As my mother used to say

We never saw any fat people in wartime.

 

It is true that if a person's family has a history of weight issues, high blood pressure or diabetes, they will likely inherit the resultant health issues to some degree, and the way you guys talk about "fat people", makes you sound like a bunch of mean-spirited jerks. I myself struggled with weight when I was younger and even though I have lost a great deal (went from 196 to 140, and I'm 5'5), I still do in many ways. I had began having mood swings (a byproduct of Asperger's Syndrome) when I was around 9 or 10, where I would often feel very depressed and for a lot of these periods, I felt the only way to fill that void was to eat ("emotional eating.)

People can't simply treat everything by cutting out foods and walking immediately. Obesity becomes a continued issue because binge-eating disrupts the dopamine receptor system that rewards your brain for eating certain things by feelings of satisfaction (often meaning "full), turning food into a drug that is very hard to kick.

In addition, people with severe weight issues need to have carefully observed weight loss, but not everyone can afford this. You see, a 400 pound person, in order to even move ends up naturally gaining muscle in their legs and arms in particular, so if they simply decide to eat 1,200 calories a day (borderline starvation) and exercise 2 hours a day (the wrong thing to do, as most trainers know, but not everyone can reach a trainer or nutritionist), they'll end up losing that muscle mass and be worse off than before.

One last thing to Makedde and Kahn: The way you talk about this is actually contributing to the problem as you seem to say that a person with weight problems has nobody to blame but themselves (almost entirely false) without actually experiencing the many difficulties surrounding this delicate issue. The way you characterize the obese actually makes them feel ashamed of themselves when not everything is within their control and encourages them to avoid interactions with others and further eat in order to satiate an emotional void. Learn some compassion.

 

It is not false at all, you have just said yourself that you stuffed your face. Eating much more than you need makes you fat..that is a fact..stop eating so much and do some exercise and you will lose weight..that is another fact..

You do not see loads of fat people in Asia and I will tell you why..they do not stuff their faces and they work hard..

 

How can you deny that an obese person shouldn't blame themselves? Of course they should! There is ONE person on this earth who is responsible for their huge size - themselves. I didn't force them to eat, neither did Khan, THEY chose to stuff their faces for years on end, and when they got too fat, instead of dieting and exercising, they chose to walk into the doctors surgery and demand an operation - a quick fix.

If obese people feel ashamed of themselves, then maybe that will push them to eat right and lose weight, instead of expecting me to feel sorry for them, which I don't, and never will.

 

Its a scientific fact that expending less calories than you take in will cause obesity, so yes popular belief is right in this respect. You simply cannot get obese without overeating and telling any obese or overweight person otherwise is simply pandering to their lack of will in this respect. Im sick and tired of apologists talking about the "disease" of obesity, that is nonsense.

 

Actually it is. Though some people are born more prone to obesity, the fact remains that if they don't take in more calories than they burn they won't gain weight. Some people just need more exercise to burn it off.

edit: ah, ian beat me to it. Note to self: read all responses before responding yourself.

 

But I didn't "happily" decide to stuff my face, I did it because I was depressed. I wasn't saying that it was entirely out of their or my control, I was saying that there are a lot of emotional issues at hand, and once a person digs themselves into a hole, it's very hard to get out of it unless you have a trainer to properly instruct you, as a lot of quick diets fail and border on starvation, but people tend to pursue the quickest option because they feel so bad. I had trouble managing the social consequences of Asperger's Syndrome (it makes it hard to even accomplish eye contact, even with speech therapy, and kids who knew about it laughed at the name), and my parents had just gotten separated, so I found comfort in eating. I wasn't happy, but I did it, it was like a drug, a person can't just decide to quit one day.

 

I think that this could be a good idea. The less obese people exist the less money that we have pay out in other illnesses.