Since CMS announced in February that it would cover bariatric surgery, hospitals are working to demonstrate that they are market leaders for the procedure. A South Florida Business Journal article reports on Florida hospitals applying for designation as a center of excellence by the American College of Surgeons or the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons Surgical Review Corporation. This designation is necessary for Medicare payment for the procedure. Although hospitals and surgeons are hoping that private insurers will follow CMS’s lead and begin covering the surgery, insurers such as Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Florida and UnitedHealthcare were quoted as saying they have no plans to universally cover the procedure, citing doubts about its cost effectiveness. And should an employer specifically ask that bariatric surgery be covered, the insurers said they are developing their own list of preferred bariatric surgery centers.
