American Medical Association labels obesity a disease
GAINESVILLE, Fla., June 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) believes the decision by the American Medical Association (A.M.A.) the nation’s largest physician group, to officially recognize obesity as a disease is a watershed moment that will help improve access to medically necessary and scientifically proven prevention and treatment strategies and remove the societal stigma attached to obesity.
“Many private health insurers, employers and state health plans specifically exclude the treatment of obesity and severe obesity from their coverage policies,” said Jaime Ponce, MD, President of the ASMBS, the largest organization for bariatric and metabolic surgeons and integrated health professionals in the world. “Recognition of obesity as a disease by the A.M.A. sends a powerful message that access to evidence-based treatments across the spectrum of the disease are medically necessary and should be treated in similar fashion to treatments for type 2 diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure.”
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