| Publication: | The Australian |
|---|---|
| Date: | 19 March 2010 |
| Section: | National |
Article excerpt:
SOARING rates of obesity surgery have prompted health fund NIB to drop cover for the procedure from two of its products. The NSW-based fund paid out $5 million in benefits for obesity-related surgery in 2008-09, a leap of 63.7 per cent on three years earlier.
There has also been a 60 per cent increase in the numbers of patients claiming for the procedures over the same three-year period. Just over 650 members were treated for obesity procedures in 2008-09.
A spokesman for the fund, which accounts for about 7 per cent of the national health insurance market, said each obesity surgery case cost the fund about $8000.
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