Health Affairs, 24, no. 4 (2005): 1039-1046 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.24.4.1039 © 2005 by Project HOPE	New Online   Senate Health Reform Bill   Rewarding Providers   Public Option Policy Brief   Health Reform & Abortion   Delivery System Reform

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Use And Costs Of Bariatric Surgery And Prescription Weight-Loss Medications

The extent of use of bariatric surgery and weight-loss medications is unknown. Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we estimate that the number of bariatric surgeries grew 400 percent between 1998 and 2002; such surgeries were performed on 0.6 percent of the 11.5 million adults clinically eligible in 2002. Hospital costs for bariatric surgery grew sixfold to $948 million in 2002. The inpatient death rate declined 64 percent. Among employers that covered weight-loss drugs in 2002, less than 2.4 percent of adults clinically eligible for these drugs used them, with average annual spending of $304 per user.

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