Experts suggest that issues and costs related to obesity are likely to rise in the workplace. As stated in a recent article posted by Stuart D. Colbum on LexisNexis, government statistics show that 34% of Americans are obese and 66% are overweight. The article also says that obesity represents 9.1% of all medical spending, or $147 billion in 2008. In workers' comp, Colbum says, obese workers file twice as many claims as a healthy person and their medical claims costs are seven times higher.
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The article highlights two recent examples of how obesity can impact workers' compensation costs...
Indiana recently ruled that a 345 pound employee is entitled to weight loss reduction surgery paid for under his workers' comp claim. Doctors felt that back surgery alone would not give the injured worker any benefit unless he lost weight. Unable to lose enough weight on his own, doctors recommended a weight loss surgery program.
The Oregon Supreme Court also held a workers' compensation carrier must pay for gastric bypass surgery. In that case, the injured worker had knee replacement surgery and the gastric bypass would increase success of that surgery.
