Should WLS be open to all who need it??

This one should get some good discussion going.  If a man or woman could benifit from the procedure and they follow the basic requirements such as phys. evaluation, lose the necessary pounds for the making the liver smaller, supervised diet for a few months...should all who want it, get it??  Are we willing to have all our taxes raised so others can have a better quality of life.  We know these procedures works...They are not unproven anymore.  So few get WLS who want it.  They come to this site...Find they can't qualify...Then move on.
Don't want this to be a Republican vs Democratic type of thing.  We know we all will have to pay for it in someway.  Then should PS be allowed too...and for whom?  Time for your soapboxes guys!!  Brian 

This is a good one Brian. IF an overweight/obese individual can go through all of the hoops and hurdles to get through the first prelimanary rounds of surgery scheduling (psych eval, weight loss evaluation, blood work etc) then I personally believe the person should be allowed to have the surgery regardless of insurance coverage. That being said, I don't think it should just be "free" or whatever. The person should have to set up some sort of payment plan or something but the majority of the cost, if they don't have insurance, should be compt in some fashion (government grants to the hospitals for WLS programs, etc). Now with plastic surgery I think it should always be in dire need only. If you are having THAT much trouble with excess skin and stuff then you should consult a plastic surgeon but not everybody who goes through WLS will have need for plastic surgery. And I think raising taxes so everyone can have a shot at living a better life is a small price to pay...not everything has to be about money.

Thought I would add this one to the mix...

What about the old..."Hey dude...eat less and exercise!!"  "You want me to pay for that cheeseburger and fries!!"

Absolutely they should if they want it. Hell we pay for everybody else. We pay for alcoholics, drug addicts etc why not.

SOcialized medicine.

Doesn't this happen in Canada and in England although I know Canadiens have to slip across here to get surgery because the wait is so long.

Not sure about the Europeans

Good post Brian on a side note hope your ticker is doing fine.

I don't want it to sound like I got mine so the hell with everyone else. But surprisingly my brother and I had a similar conversation this week. Bama and I also talked about it. So I think less government is better government and in life I've seen when things come easy they usually are not appreciated as when you work hard for it. I know a few people were this was handed to them and they have already ruined the gift of WLS. Would they if they were out  of pocket or lost wages do to being of work *****ally knows. But like the kid thats given everything and trashes it because daddy will buy me another one. On the flip side like disability for those that are truly in need we should help. This week on the Tennessee Board we discussed the psychiatric aspect of pre-op, the vast majority thought there should be more emphasis on preparation whether it be a series of pre-op classes that cover the emotional, nutritional and surgical aspects of WLS along with early stages of food preparations. Statistically they say less then 1% die from WLS surgery, but how many unprepared or mislead patients commit suicide because of WLS? Do people with very manic depression or bipolar understand that WLS is not going to fix all their problems? Can the abrupt realization send someone over the edge? By making it easy is that really a good thing? I don't know but on a economic side if the WLS works for them its a long cost savings of hundreds of thousands of dollars in future medical care. So once again clear as mud? One mans opinion. C'ya Bob

As a person with bi-polar disease (manic-depression), I feel that I must respond to your post.  My primary doc and my shrink were both in favor of me having WLS.  No one ever talked about it being a "magic bullet" back when I originally had it on 11-16-2000.  As a matter of fact, there was little discussion of preparation for life after the WLS.  In my case it did save my life.  I had kidded my doc that I doubted that I would have lived another year without the WLS he countered that I could probably have lived another 3 years.

My quality of life may not seem to be what other people achieve after WLS, but, please remember that my starting weight was 571 lbs.  I lost over 200 lbs due to the WLS.  I could barely walk from one room to the next prior to surgery.  Now, I can walk about 1/2 block with a cane or rollator.  You know I can't do steps or curbs and that I have difficulty on ramps.

As to working, I stopped working in July, 1992 due to the manic-depression.  I continued to gain weight.  I saw counselors who emphasized that my disability was my mental condition and not my physical one.  However, my physical condition deteriorated.  My knees are bad now.  I wonder if I would have my problems if I were thin.  I just don't know.  I also have the affliction of addiction.  I'm addicted to sugar and white flour and I sympathize with anyone who has any type of addiction.  I've been for addiction counseling and that's almost as much a crap chute as telling a fat person to eat less and exercise more.  Despite the limited success of AA, my shrink and the addiction counselors told me that the actual percentage of success in AA is only around 35% and it has the highest success rate of any addiction program.  So, even though people with that problem get referred to AA, they are lucky as well as blessed if it works for them.

You can tell that you hit a nerve by this post.  Do I think manic-depressive people commit suicide because of WLS?  I doubt it.  That's one of the main reasons for having a psych evaluation.  It just wouldn't make any sense to give a suicidal person this surgery.  Get them in the right frame of mind first and then give them hope and the WLS.  Besides, a manic-depressed person who is being treated for their condition may have occasional suicidal thoughts, but they are rarely actually suicidal.  I know that every single time I see a shrink they ask me how I am doing and they always ask if I've had suicidal thoughts since I last saw them.  They also encourage me to contact them or a crisis center if I get such thoughts.  I know that this is a common line of questioning for people who suffer from depression who are not manic-depressive.

I don't think people who are not mental health professionals should be deciding what course of action mentally ill people should take.  I know this is an open forum and all are welcome to their opinions.  But, I still feel the prejudice against the mentally ill.  It's ok to have just about any other illness, but, since many people don't know how to deal with mental illness, they don't want to allow them the same medical solutions as other people.

I wish there were a magic pill that would make all of my mental problems go away.  My manic-depression is genetic and I know that it will only get worse as I get older.  That is one reason why I see a shrink every 2 months.  My meds need constant monitoring.  They have to periodically be adjusted as that condition worsens.  I'll never be one to not take my meds for this condition because I'm too afraid of what my behavior might become without them.

I think health ins should be available to everyone like it is to Federal employees and retirees.  You get to choose among national, regional, or state health ins companies and you do pay premiums.  You can choose which plan you want based on what is covered, what your deductibles and co-pays are, and what your premiums will be.  There is an open season once a year where you can change plans and where you can not be denied coverage based on prior medical problems.  Thus, you get to choose how much you want to pay for your own coverage.  Currently, the Fed govt pays a large portion of the costs, but there could be ways for companies to buy into the overall fund or taxes could be raised to cover the base health ins costs.  This would not be the same as the socialized plans in many other companies since health insurance companies would still administer the day to day operation of the plans.  And, yes, there should be certain operations that should be covered by all plans.  Now, if WLS were covered, individuals might pay differing amounts for their plans based on what plans they chose to have.

If you think medical care is prohibitively costly now, just wait until it's free.

I think if it were provided to everyone who needed it, we'd all probably break even if everyone self paid. Think 4-5 years of insurance premiums for every overweight or obese person in the US. The docs might give everyone a break and provide a bulk price of 15 grand, what do you think?

Bob you have more guts than I did. I also suffer from Bi polar and"manic depression".  I was ticked by the post also but I didn't want to say anything but you gave me the courage to "come out of the closet."


I was just recently diagnosed and my disease is diagnosed as mild if there is such a thing. If this is mild I can only tell you I would hate to see severe.

Believe me I am not that stupid to know that WLS and being thin was EVER going to fix my problems. Years of therapy taught me that. I would hate to be denied because I was considered a risk.

Until you've walked in our shoes people........


Thanks Bob for your insightful post