Ask any bariatric surgeon whether or not gastric bypass surgery lowers a patient's risk of early death and he will tell you without hesitation that it does. Indeed, he will undoubtedly be surprised that you have asked the question at all as surgeons have known for years that weight loss surgery extends a patient's life.

but, put that same question to a number of insurance companies and you may well receive a different answer because, until now, despite the fact that there has been a lot of anecdotal evidence for what everyone knows to be the position, there has not been any hard, concrete scientific proof.

Today however the results of two studies have clearly shown in numerical terms that gastric bypass surgery has a significant effect on the death rates of those concerned.

In the first, a multi-center United States study involving 16,000 patients followed for 7 years, long-term death rates fell by as much as 40 percent. At the same time a second Swedish study involving some 4,000 patients showed a 29 percent fall in death rates.

For a long time now insurance companies have sought to put obstacles in the way of patients to stop them from submitting claims for weight loss surgery and this has been gaining momentum in recent years as the number of obesity operations being carried out has climbed dramatically and weight loss surgery has become more and more accepted with a number of celebrities such as Star Jones, Carnie Wilson, Al Rocker and others undergoing obesity surgery.

Insurance companies have however stuck strictly to the position that gastric bypass surgery ought only to be used as a last resort and that every possible attempt to lose weight using exercise and diet, including if necessary the use of medication, must be exhausted before weight loss surgery is considered. additionally, they have also stuck to the line that gastric bypass surgery should only finally be done if weight presents a risk to life.

For most people this stance by the insurance companies is seen as being totally ridiculous and a position which they have clearly adopted merely to save the insurance company money. Nevertheless, and despite this point of view, the insurance companies have gotten away with this for years now because it has not been possible to show in terms of facts and figures that gastric bypass surgery is not just a convenient and relatively easy way to lose weight but is the only option open to many obesity sufferers and an option that will not only improve their quality of life but literally extend their lives, in many cases quite significantly.

For years now overweight individuals have battled with their weight and, although some people have experienced very limited success, the vast majority of people (and certainly those who are faced with losing more than 80 pounds) have found that diet and exercise simply does not work. Despite this fact, they have had no choice and doctors have been forced to lead patients down this path because of the stance of the insurance companies.

It is to be hoped that now at long last the insurance companies will be forced to meet their responsibility in this area and at last put the needs of their policyholders before those of their shareholders.