The number of weight-loss surgeries increased from 13,386 to 71,733 in the four year span. According to the study, part of the increase was driven by a 900 percent rise in operations on patients between the ages of 55 and 64.
During the same period, hospital costs for treating patients who underwent weight-loss surgery increased from $157 million a year to $948 million a year; the average cost per surgery increased by roughly 13 percent, from $11,705 to $13,215.
To be considered medically eligible for weight-loss surgery, known technically as bariatric surgery, a patient must have a Body Mass Index greater than 40. Approximately 395,000 Americans between 65 and 69 years of age will be medically eligible to have weight-loss surgery this year, and that number could increase by approximately 20 percent, to 475,000, in 2010.
The authors based their estimates on data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a database of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project sponsored by AHRQ, in partnership with data organizations in 37 states.
