A provision in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires payers to cover nutrition and obesity screening could have a big impact on a small sector of the healthcare industry, according to The New York Times.
This sector — medical weight-loss programs run by physicians at hospitals and clinics — is expected to bring in $1 billion each year, according to John LaRosa, research director at Marketdata Enterprises. Mr. LaRosa also told The New York Times he expects the medical weight-loss program market to grow approximately 5 percent annually through 2019.
The opportunities are especially good for physicians who have found other practices unprofitable, according to the report. Physicians could earn up to $3,000 per obese patient per year, Michael Kaplan, DO, told The New York Times. Dr. Kaplan oversees the Long Island Weight Loss Institute, which has three locations in Smithtown, N.Y., Amityville, N.Y., and East Meadow, N.Y.
Although basic obesity screening must be covered by health insurance under the PPACA, financial benefits vary state-by-state. Twenty-three states require some coverage for nutritional and obesity therapy and 23 states require coverage for weight-loss surgery, according to the report.
The report notes that the weight-loss market also carries a fair share of contentious practices and possible conflicts of interest, including the vitamin injections, expensive supplements and unproven techniques used at some clinics. However, losing weight and keeping it off can be incredibly difficult and requires long-term care.
The most effective programs are at least a year long, according to Michael Jensen, MD, director of the obesity treatment research program at Rochester, Minn.-based Mayo Clinic.
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