ArticleObesity (Silver Spring, Md.)2017
Obesity coverage gap: Consumers perceive low coverage for obesity treatments even when workplace wellness programs target BMI.
Article in Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 29 citations in OpenAlex.
- A Mendelian Randomization Study and Experimental Validation Investigating the Potential Relationship Among Interleukin-6 Receptor Subunit Beta, Obesity, and Alzheimer's Disease.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- The Patient's Journey in Obesity within the United States: An Exercise of Resilience against Disease.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Policy Interventions to Enhance Medical Care for People With Obesity in the United States-Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Directions.The Milbank quarterly · 2024Article
- Real-world primary nonadherence to antiobesity medications.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2023Article
- "Anti-obesity medications" or "medications to treat obesity" instead of "weight loss drugs" - why language matters - an official statement of the Brazilian Association for the Study of Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome (ABESO) and the Brazilian Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism (SBEM).Archives of endocrinology and metabolism · 2023Article
- Coverage of obesity and obesity disparities on American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) examinations.Journal of the National Medical Association · 2021Article
- Long-Term Weight Loss Strategies for Obesity.The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism · 2021Review
- Pharmacotherapy for Obesity-Trends Using a Population Level National Database.Obesity surgery · 2021Article
- Antiobesity Medication Use in 2.2 Million Adults Across Eight Large Health Care Organizations: 2009-2015.Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.) · 2019Article
- Why Weight? An Analytic Review of Obesity Management, Diabetes Prevention, and Cardiovascular Risk Reduction.Current atherosclerosis reports · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveEvidence-based obesity treatments, such as bariatric surgery, are not considered essential health benefits under the Affordable Care Act. Employer-sponsored wellness programs with incentives based on biometric outcomes are allowed and often used despite mixed evidence regarding their effectiveness. This study examines consumers' perceptions of their coverage for obesity treatments and exposure to workplace wellness programs.
methodsA total of 7,378 participants completed an online survey during 2015-2016. Respondents answered questions regarding their health coverage for seven medical services and exposure to employer wellness programs that target weight or body mass index (BMI). Using χ
resultsMost respondents reported they did not have health coverage for obesity treatments, but more of the respondents with employer wellness programs reported having coverage. Neither the perception of coverage for obesity treatments nor exposure to wellness programs increased between 2015 and 2016.
conclusionsEven when consumers have exposure to employer wellness programs that target BMI, their health insurance often excludes obesity treatments. Given the clinical and cost-effectiveness of such treatments, reducing that coverage gap may mitigate obesity's individual- and population-level effects.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.