Ask an insurance question!

Our insurance team is one of the most experienced in the country, having handled over 3500 precertifications for surgical weight loss procedures.  Feel free to take advantage of their knowledge and expertise by submitting a question here!

NOTE:  Communication through this site IS NOT encrypted in any way.  We will do our best to answer your question in a timely manner, but this is not meant for emergency communication.  If your question is urgent, call the office immediately.  If it is a medical emergency, please dial 911!

Managed Care

Many Americans receive their health care through managed care companies or health maintenance organizations. Unfortunately, many managed care companies exclude treatments for obesity.

Find out why your health plan should cover treatments for obesity by reading, Why Health Plans Should Cover Obesity Treatment. Managed care plans are accredited by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA). However, NCQA does not examine services for obesity of any health plan. Addressing obesity is essential to the integrity of a national system of accreditation of managed care providers.

Read the AOA's comments lobbying the NCQA to take the leadership in bringing the managed care industry to address the epidemic of obesity in the United States.

Medicare and Medicaid

Medicare is the federal program that provides health services for the elderly and the disabled. In July 2004, the Medicare policy changed to reflect the seriousness of obesity as a medical condition. Previously, Medicare did not consider obesity to be a disease or illness and thus made no payments for any services in connection with it. The new Medicare policy, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), "would remove barriers to covering anti-obesity interventions if scientific and medical evidence demonstrate their effectiveness in improving Medicare beneficiaries' health outcomes."

Read the HHS press release on the new Medicare policy.

Read the AOA's Medicare and Obesity: Frequently Asked Questions. The president of the American Obesity Association stated that the new Medicare policy is a "decision that will open the door not only for better insurance coverage but more medical research and increased education on obesity at the nation’s medical and other health schools."

You can be of help!

What Can I Do?
From the information we have provided, you can use what is helpful to explain the importance of coverage and reimbursement for obesity treatment to your employer, managed health care plan or insurance company. Help change the picture on reimbursement! If not for you, do it for the millions of adults and children who need help paying for treatments.

Be an advocate--changes in employer paid health insurance or public programs like Medicare and Medicaid will not come overnight. And the changes will not happen until people like you start demanding it. AOA has tried on this site to connect you with the information you may need to help make the case for change. If your plan changes coverage or you have an interesting experience to report, let us know so that we tell others.

For more information on health insurance coverage, read these AOA educational materials:
Insurance Coverage for Obesity Treatments
Weight Management and Health Insurance
Obesity and Health Insurance
Obesity Medicaid and Medicare


If you believe that you have a legal claim regarding the denial of health insurance coverage for obesity treatment, you may refer to the FAQs section of the Obesity Law and Advocacy Center's website.

Several states are looking at laws mandating insurance companies' coverage of bariatric surgery. For information to take to your insurance company on bariatric surgery, read the Rationale for Surgical Treatment of Morbid Obesity.