Houston Bariatric Surgeons Help Expand Employee Benefits to Include Weight Loss Surgery Coverage

HOUSTON, TX--(Marketwired - May 9, 2013) - The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery has designated Texas Laparoscopic Consultants as a Center of Excellence®. TLC, a Houston bariatric surgery practice led by Dr. Sherman Yu and Dr. Terry Scarborough, has a mission to serve as lifelong partners with their bariatric patients. As part of this mission, Drs. Sherman and Scarborough have collaborated with Park Plaza Hospital to offer employers an affordable auxiliary insurance program that would make weight loss surgery benefits available to their employees.

According to Drs. Yu and Scarborough, they want to give employers an opportunity to offer weight loss surgery to their employees at a more affordable rate than most primary insurance carriers allow. The main benefit of their program is that TLC and Park Plaza Hospital allow employers to create a customizable bariatric care coverage program for their company. Using the customizable plan, employers can tailor the level of pre-operative requirements and benefits provided to their employee group.

For example, coverage for bariatric procedures can be offered to patients who have been employed at least two years or five years, depending upon the employer's preference. The employers can also create their own deductibles and design a more affordable insurance option than adding the plan on with the company's primary insurance carrier.

When employers offer overall bariatric benefits, those employers pay for that benefit for all of their employees, whether the employees take advantage of the coverage or not. The main benefit of the program offered by TLC and Park Plaza Hospital is that rather than paying for benefits for all employees, employers can customize the plan for employees who would utilize the coverage. This type of tailored coverage is more cost-effective and affordable for the employer.

Coverage plans can be designed to include all fees associated with the physician, hospital and surgical procedure and even includes medical expense coverage protection related to post-surgical complications. Houston bariatric surgeons Drs. Yu and Scarborough ask companies interested in their customizable bariatric surgery plans to contact the TLC office and ask to speak with the program director. For companies that do not currently cover weight loss surgery or have employees seeking bariatric surgery coverage, TLC and Park Plaza Hospital can help cover weight loss procedures in a more cost effective manner for both the company and its employees.

About Sherman C. Yu, MD, FACS

Dr. Sherman Yu is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and earned his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine. A board-certified surgeon, Dr. Yu has been named one of America's Top Surgeons by Consumers Research Council of America. He is available for interview upon request.

About Terry Scarborough, MD, FACS

Dr. Terry Scarborough earned his medical degree from the University of New Mexico. A board-certified surgeon, Dr. Scarborough has been recognized by H-Texas and Newsweek as a Top Physician. He is extensively trained in several weight loss procedures including gastric sleeve surgery and minimally invasive abdominal surgery. Dr. Scarborough is available for interview upon request.