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Bariatric surgery did not reduce health care costs for obese patients
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Obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery did not incur fewer overall long-term health care costs following the procedure compared with patients who did not receive surgery in a recent study.
Researchers performed a longitudinal analysis of claims data from 29,820 Blue Cross and Blue Shield members who received bariatric surgery between January 2002 and December 2008, along with a matched cohort (n=29,820) diagnosed with obesity-related illnesses who did not receive surgery. Health care costs, including inpatient, pharmacy, health care professional visits and other non-inpatient services, were assessed for each group during a maximum follow-up of 6 years.
The mean total cost for the surgical procedure was $29,517, including admission and costs incurred during the subsequent 30 days. In this group, total costs were greater during the second and third years after the procedure, but were similar to those incurred by the nonsurgery group in subsequent years.
Overall, the adjusted total expenditures of the two arms were comparable, excluding during the second and third years following surgery, when surgery recipients incurred 16% and 7% higher costs, respectively.
Pharmacy costs were approximately 30% lower among surgery recipients in the first 3 postoperative years, increasing slightly in later years, which researchers attributed to a lack of adjustment for inflation. Costs were greater for inpatient services among surgery recipients following the procedure, with a peak in the second and third years; office visit costs were significantly lower in this group. Patients who underwent laparoscopic surgery incurred lower costs during the first two postoperative years compared with nonsurgery patients, but this difference subsequently resolved.
“During a 6-year follow-up period of this privately insured cohort, we were unable to identify any short- or long-term reductions in overall health care costs associated with surgery,” the researchers concluded. “This study … suggests that to assess the value of bariatric surgery, future studies should focus on the potential benefit of improved health and well-being of persons undergoing the procedure rather than on cost savings.”
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