Bariatric surgery cuts health-care costs for diabetics

Vital Signs: An Orlando Sentinal Blog

Insurance companies have squawked for years about the high cost of bariatric surgery. But here’s news that may pave the way for more approved surgeries: In a review of health-insurance records, researchers found that 75 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes were able to stop taking medications six months after undergoing bariatric surgery — and almost 85% no longer needed drug treatment at two years — cutting their healthcare costs.

Although the surgery and hospitalization costs about $30,000, the analysis of insurance claims data for more than 2,200 adults with type 2 diabetes who underwent bariatric surgery found that the surgery also saved money in the long run, said Dr. Martin A. Makary of Johns Hopkins University and his co-authors.

The patients’ annual healthcare costs increased 9.7% in the first year after bariatric surgery, but fterward they dropped dramatically: Costs decreased by 34% in the second year, and dropped by 70.5% in the third year, compared with preoperative expenditures, the team wrote in the August issue Archives of Surgery.