Weight-loss surgery bill clears another hurdle

A Senate health committee Tuesday approved a bill that would create a two-year weight-loss surgery pilot program for selected state employees.

The pilot program created by House Bill 511 would allow Georgia’s Department of Community Health to determine whether weight-loss surgery, known as bariatric surgery, should be covered by the state health insurance benefit plan. Seventy-five state employees would be chosen each year to participate in the program.

The committee also passed a companion resolution, House Resolution 603, that would require state health officials to track the patients’ progress months and years after the procedure.