Lawmakers moved a bill forward Thursday aimed at tackling Georgia’s obesity problem.
House Bill 511 would create a two-year weight-loss surgery pilot program for selected state employees.
Georgia has some of the highest obesity, diabetes and hypertension rates in the nation, said Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-Rome, who sponsored the bill.
The pilot program under the state Department of Community Health would allow health officials to determine whether weight-loss surgery, known as bariatric surgery, should be covered by the state health insurance plan. The program covers more than 650,000 state employees.
Seventy-five state employees would be selected each of the two years to participate in the pilot program.
The state benefit program offered coverage for weight-loss surgery from 2009 to 2011, but it was cut as part of cost-saving measures to close budget gaps. The plan paid nearly $31 million in benefits for bariatric surgery during that time, a spokeswoman for the community health agency said.
The agency is already tracking the progress of about 2,000 state employees who previously had some type of weight-loss surgery, Dempsey said.
A companion resolution, HR 603, would require state health officials to track even more data over months and years on previous patients and those who enroll in the pilot program.
“We are not collecting as much data as could really benefit the decisions to be made ahead,” Dempsey said.
She said the costs of weight-loss surgeries could be offset by savings on drugs for chronic illnesses and other problems caused by obesity.
About the Author
