Health Insurance for Overweight Americans

Health Insurance for Overweight Americans
By Tony Novak, MBA, MT, www.tonynovak.com, OnlineAdviserTM at MedSave.com

One in 50 adult Americans is clinically obese, according to a new Rand
study. A clinically obese person is one who is more than 100 pounds
overweight. These large people require extraordinary medical care that few
medical facilities are equipped to handle. Most medical offices do not have
scales to weigh patients over 300 pounds despite the fact that accurate
weight is crucial to prescribing many types of medicines. These patients
may not fit on normal hospital beds, imaging equipment, wheelchairs or
operating tables. Severely overweight people are far more likely to suffer
from diabetes, arthritis and other medical conditions.

The nation is slowly changing its attitude toward obesity as a medical
condition. The IRS now allows the cost of weight loss programs to be
deducted by taxpayers as a normal medical expense. Employee benefit plans
may now classify weight control costs as a tax-free benefit under a health
plan. The state of new Louisiana launched a study to examine the financial
effects of gastric by-pass surgery on the overall health care costs of obese
patients. If the results of this study are favorable, we might expect to
see gastric bypass treatment routinely covered procedure under health
insurance plans that are defined to cover "ordinary and necessary medical
expenses".

For years health insurance companies have charged extra premiums to
overweight members. In those cases where severe obesity is accompanied by
full or partial disability, unemployment or underemployment, the high cost
of these health insurance plans is unaffordable. Some health plans are
simply not available to applicants who weigh more than allowed by the
underwriters.

In small business health insurance plans, insurance is always available to
every full-time employee regardless of weight or medical history. The extra
cost of caring for overweight members is spread evenly among all of the
employees of the business. Adding an obese employee can boost the premium
cost by 5% to 25% for everyone in the group and may cause resentment among
the lighter weight employees. Even in larger groups and Blue Cross plans
that use a "one price for all" the high cost of treating obesity has become
a politically charged issues.

There are still a few low cost health insurance plans available without
regard to the applicant's weight. In most states the American Health Shield
(www.MedSave.com) and Fortis Short Term Medical plans
(www.fortisenrollment.com) can be issued at standard rates without regard to
weight. Both of these plans are unavailable to individuals with diabetes .
One limitation of these plans is that they require re-enrollment every six
months but both of these health insurers will introduce longer term plans in
the near future.



Reprinted with Permission from The State Street Journal