The Newsroom  •  Published Thursday, Mar. 16, 2006, 2:20 PM
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Why can’t UTMB offer needed surgery?

Galveston County Daily News (Internet / Print) 03/16/06 http://news.galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=3a35802630583803 Column by Dr. Michael Trahan: We would love to see this patient at our UTMB Center for Weight Management, but we haven’t yet met the requirements for Medicare reimbursement due to the number of surgeries they require. Our program is still new, and we fully expect to meet their requirement this year. We want to serve patients like this one and we fully intend to be able to again offer our services to Medicare beneficiaries in the future. Unfortunately, we are forced to wait until we are designated for Medicare approval. Most commercial insurance plans still provide benefits for bariatric surgery, and we are still treating those patients. We encourage our Medicare-sponsored referrals to contact the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and their congressional representatives to discuss their displeasure with the newly adopted policy.



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