Analysis of ROI for Bariatric Surgery

In a first-of-its kind study on the return on investments on bariatric surgery coverage, a multidisciplinary team including President Pierre Cremieux as well as bariatric surgeons determined that insurers can expect to recover surgery costs associated with bariatric surgery through lower medical expenditures post-surgery than for a control group of morbidly obese patients who did not receive surgery. Work published based on a population of over 3,000 bariatric surgery patients included in an insurance claims database, as well as a smaller sample of bariatric surgery patients who had diabetes, demonstrated the savings by comparing costs for these patients relative to an equal number of matched morbidly obese patients who did not have surgery. Studies were published in The American Journal of Managed Care, the Canadian Journal of Diabetes, Contingencies, Obesity, and Obesity Surgery, and received extensive coverage in The Wall Street Journal and in major media outlets in the United States, Canada, and Europe.