Medicare Weight Loss

After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, that mandates coverage for obesity screening for all adults and treatment services for those that are at risk, Medicare changed their guidelines. As per the new policy, Medicare covers intensive counseling to help you lose weight under the direction of a qualified health care professional such as a weight loss physician. This counseling, called intensive behavior therapy for obesity, may be covered if you get it in a primary care setting (like a doctor's office), where it can be coordinated with your other care and a personalized prevention plan.

Medicare weight loss coverage eligibility
All people with Medicare who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more are covered for IBT for weight loss.

How often does Medicare cover for Obesity counseling visits?
Medicare covers a maximum of 22 visits for IBT for obesity sessions in a 12-month period.

Medicare beneficiaries who are obese are eligible for:


 * One face-to-face visit every week for the first month;
 * One face-to-face visit every other week for months 2 – 6; and
 * One face-to-face visit every month for months 7 – 12, if the beneficiary meets the 3 kg (6.6 pounds) weight loss requirement during the first 6 months

Who is eligible for IBT for Obesity for Medicare?
Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Obesity Medicare provides coverage of IBT for obesity(BMI ≥ 30 kilograms per meter squared) for Medicare beneficiaries:
 * Who are competent and alert at the time that counseling is provided; and
 * Whose counseling is furnished by a qualified primary care physician or other primary care practitioner and in a primary care setting.

How much weight do I have to lose in 6 months?
After 6 months of receiving intensive behavior therapy for obesity, if the Medicare beneficiary manages to lose as little as 6.6 pounds of your body weight, Medicare will extend the benefit for help losing weight with intensive behavior therapy for another 6 months with biweekly visits.

Medicare 6 month reassessment for weight loss
Intensive Behavioral Therapy for Obesity At the 6-month visit, a reassessment of obesity and a determination of the amount of weight loss must be performed. As long as the Medicare beneficiary is losing weight with a minimum [weight loss of 6.6 pounds, Medicare will extend the benefit as long as the person continues to have a body mass index of 30 or more or a BMI of 28> with a obesity related comorbidities such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease, diabetes etc.

Who can provide the IBT for obesity for Medicare patients?
Any qualified primary care physician or primary care practitioner familiar with treating obesity and providing IBT can provide these services although most physicians have nothing to offer other than simply say lose weight!

For the purpose of the IBT for obesity benefit:Primary Care Physician is defined as any physician who has a primary specialty designation of:
 * Family practice,
 * General practice,
 * Geriatric medicine,
 * Internal medicine,
 * Obstetrics/gynecology, or
 * Pediatric medicine.

Primary Care Practitioner

A qualified non-physician practitioner is a:Certified clinical nurse specialist,Nurse practitioner, orPhysician assistant.Primary care physicians’ and practitioners’corresponding specialty codes apply when billingprofessional claims. When billing institutional claims,follow billing instructions based on your facility type.

Diagnostic code for IBT: G0447

Causes of obesity for Medicare patients
There are many factors that contribute to weight gain including [insulin resistance], eating behaviors, environment, and genetic factors may have an effect in causing people to be overweight and obese. Although many tend to oversimplify this and say "calories in, calories out", it is important to realize the true causes of obesity and weight gain. According to Dr. Prab R. Tumpati, MD, founder of W8MD medical weight loss centers of America, the most important cause of obesity, and other places is their underlying insulin resistance that in turn shapes ones eating habits. Since insulin is a body building hormone, more insulin resistant one is, more compensation happens and insulin being a body building or anabolic hormone, insulin resistance ultimately leads to weight gain, causes metabolic starvation in the obese leading to tummy and upper body weight gain.

Weight loss options for weight loss and obesity help for Medicare patients

 * What are the options to lose weight fast in for weight losss?


 * How to find the right weight loss program?


 * What works and what does not for weight loss in forlosing weight?

If any of the above questions sound familiar, you are not alone. Most people looking for a weight loss program and elsewhere spend a lot of time doing online research on the internet using combination of various searches including "'the best weight loss program'", fastest weight loss program, "safe weight loss program"' etc.

Weight loss options for Medicare patients

 * Very low calorie diet or VLCD
 * Weight loss medications or diet pills
 * Physical activity or exercise in combination with VLCD or LCD diet
 * Behavior therapy to correct insulin resistance, sleep disorders], [[metabolic syndrome, eating disorders etc.
 * Bariatric surgery for a small minority of patients but note that you still need a combination of the above even after surgery

Understand the following 5 proven measures to lose weight fast and easy

Very low calorie diet for weight loss
What is a Very low calorie diet for losing weight? A very low calorie or VLCD diet can be as low as 800 calories but has all the nutrients your body needs in the form of weight loss supplements that help reduce the hunger by providing constant nutrition, each time of only about 100-200 calories, with about 3-5 small meals a day using specially manufactured meal replacement of weight loss supplements such as the w8md VLCD diet for weight loss.

Cost of VLCD very low calorie diet
While the prices of the very low calorie meal replacements P can vary based on the individual physician weight loss program used, they vary any where from $2.20 at [Costing as little as $2.20 per meal replaced, W8MD medical weight loss centers protein bars, shakes, pasta, smoothies, soups, and other weight loss supplements are not only tasty but also can be cheaper than the cost of the ingredients for many home made foods. In fact, according to the research from our manufacturer, a person on VLCD diet from W8MD medical weight loss centers can save up to 15% or more on their grocery food bills.

These weight loss supplements can be in the form of low calorie protein bars, protein shakes, pasta, weight loss smoothies, soups, and other weight loss supplements. While they only have as few as 100-160 calories, they do provide the important nutrients that body needs. They are not only tasty but also can be cheaper than the cost of the ingredients for many home made foods. Considering there is a cost of regular food even if prepared at home, there could even be a small saving on the overall monthly grocery food bills even after adding the cost of these weight loss meal replacements. For example, in one research study, there was a 15% cost saving on grocery food costs when using these very low calorie diet supplements.

Medication options for weight loss for Medicare patients
There are many weight loss medications to help suppress appetite, reduce food cravings and help you lose weight. Here is a list of weight loss medications or diet pills for losing weight.


 * Orlistat for weight loss
 * Lorcaserin (Belviq) for weight loss
 * Sibutramine to lose weight
 * Rimonabant for appetite suppression
 * Metformin for weight loss and blood sugar control
 * Exenatide for weight loss and diabetes control
 * Pramlintide for losing weight and diabetes
 * Phentermine/topiramate (Qsymia), the best weight loss combination medication for fast weight loss
 * Fast weight loss for Medicare patients

Exercises for weight loss for Medicare patients
It may be a bit shocking for some, but well established research shows that exercising for weight loss on its own is useless as exercise stimulates appetite, and builds heavier muscle. In fact, this is so well established a fact that it is a board examination questions in obesity medicine, reported on Time Magazine,New York Times and even admitted by Bally's Fitness on their website. However, exercise, in combination with a Very low calorie diet or Low calorie diet does help.

Sleep disorders and weight gain
Did you know lack of proper sleep can lead to weight gain and sleep disorders in turn lead to weight gain, thus setting in vicious cycle? The bidirectional relationship between sleep disorders and metabolic disorders are so well established that the American Academy of Sleep Medicine recommends addressing these two inter-related disorders together. Poly-Tech sleep and W8MD medical weight loss centers with many locations address both sleep disorders and obesity together so you can lose weight, sleep better and even live longer!

Locations for insurance weight loss with Medicare
Although most weight loss programs in greater for Medicare patients do not accept health insurance for physician supervised medical weight loss, W8MD medical weight loss programs do accept health insurance for fast physician supervised medical weight loss in for Medicare patients.

Weight loss before and after
Check out the weight loss success stories, before and after weight loss pictures and testimonials for losing weight fast and safe.

Weight loss success stories
While individual results may vary, most people do succeed in losing weight using proven weight loss measures under the supervision of a trained and experienced weight loss physician.

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Success