Dallas, TX (ContentDesk) March 9, 2006 - Nearly 200,000 Americans suffering from morbid obesity will have weight loss surgery this year, but thousands more will have to forego the procedure because of financial constraints. Thats because most people can only afford the $25,000 - $50,000 price tag for bariatric surgery if their insurance carrier foots the billand getting the insurance company to approve the procedure is where many people fail.

I am asked is whether insurance or Medicare will pay for weight loss surgery, says Craig Thompson, co-author of the new e-Book Weight Loss Surgery Insurance Secrets. I wrote this book to help people who want and need weight loss surgery navigate the maze of insurance requirements and avoid having to pay thousands for the procedure out-of-pocket.Thompson, a former sumo wrestler, had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass in 1997 after tipping the scales at 400 pounds. Within a years time, he lost nearly half his body weight, dropping from a 54 to a 34 waist size.

Dallas, Tokyo and London. But, he almost didnt have the surgery because of all the red tape with his insurance carrier.It took me months to figure out how to get approved for weight loss surgery, Thompson says. Most people dont realize that obesity alone wont qualify you for the procedure. Insurance companies have written guidelines that they use to determine whether or not a specific medical procedure is appropriate, and its not easy to put together a request that will pass your carriers review process. In 2004, Thompson founded www.

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