A bill to cover bariatric surgeries for state employees passes overwhelmingly in the legislature after a long-fought battle. Bill author Baton Rouge Senator Regina Barrow said this is welcome news for state employees in an effort to extend their life and reduce the costs spent on morbidly obese-related illnesses.
“It is my understanding many people who have had this surgery and they’ve lost almost another person, and they are no longer on any of the medications they were on,” said Barrow.
Despite Louisiana having the highest in the nation obesity rate, it was one of a few states that didn’t cover bariatric surgery for severely obese state employees. An effort to have Louisiana cover the surgery began almost 20 years ago. Barrow hopes this is just the beginning.
“Well, we’ve been fighting trying to get the state to do this and I’m hoping that privately-owned companies will follow suit as well,” said Barrow.
A fiscal note attached to the bill estimates that covering the surgeries will cost more than $5 million in the first year but decrease to half that by 2026 due to savings on prescription drug benefits and other medical costs like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
“So, a change in lifestyle, increasing quality of health and lowering the cost overall that it costs the state, and those individuals is going to go down,” said Barrow.
The bill cleared the House last week on a 93-0 vote and would go into effect in August.
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