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UCLA Study Finds 50 Percent of Private HMO Enrollees Are Overweight or Obese

Posted on: Thursday, 21 July 2005, 21:01 CDT

Jul. 21--A UCLA study says more than 50 percent of Californians enrolled in private HMO plans are overweight or obese, and that health-care providers should do more to address the problem.

The HMOs say the study, though accurate, doesn't say much because the information isn't new. But, they say, the bigger question is what should society be doing to keep all Californians at a healthy weight and physically active.

Health-care providers can't do that alone, said Michael Chee, a spokesman for Blue Cross of California in response to the UCLA Center for Healthy Policy Research, which released the study Wednesday.

"We are still having problems with members who are diagnosed with diabetes and keeping them on their medication and changing their diets," Chee said.

"If we struggle with them, we have a long way to go with educating society in general about weight management. This is a lifestyle issue and involves a range of personal commitment."

Commissioned by the California Office of the Patient Advocate, the study was based on data from the 2003 California Health Interview Survey.

The Patient Advocate is a state agency charged with informing and educating HMO members of their rights.

Seven of the state's largest HMO plans -- Blue Cross of California, Aetna, Kaiser Permanente, Health Net, PacifiCare, Blue Shield and Cigna -- showed some of the highest rates for overweight and obese members between ages 12 and 64.

Data also showed significant differences among those plans, said Gerald Kominski, associate director of the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and lead author of the study during a conference call Wednesday.

For example, 59 percent of Aetna, 54 percent of Kaiser and 53 percent of Health Net members reported a higher than average prevalence of obesity and being overweight. Meanwhile, Cigna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield and PacifiCare were at or below the state HMO average.

The study's authors suggest that by promoting services addressing the issue, HMOs can improve the health of their members and combat rising health-care costs associated with obesity.

California spends an estimated $7.7 billion a year on weight-related health-care issues.

"This study just confirms the National Institutes of Health's assessment that Americans are by a majority overweight,' said Jennifer Resch-Silvestri, a spokeswoman for Kaiser Permanente of Fontana.

The health-care provider has more than 640,000 members in the Inland Empire.

Silvestri said for a number of years now, Kaiser has introduced programs specifically designed to help its members manage their weight, especially in pediatrics.

Though private HMOs were targeted in this study, Richard Bruno, executive officer of Inland Empire Health Plan, said the uninsured can't be overlooked.

"All of the health-care providers know this is a problem. They all have weight-management programs, and most of them, if not all of them, have nutrition programs for their members,' Bruno said.

"But what about the fee-for-service people who really aren't getting a lot of this information, unless it comes from the state's Department of Health Services? They don't know the effects that weight can have on them such as diabetes and heart disease.'

Ed Mendoza, acting director of the Patient Advocate, said more than 40,000 households were surveyed for the study.

Individuals were asked about the ages, sex, race and income levels of persons living in each of the households.

They also were asked about their height and weight as well as what health insurance plans they belonged to.

ON THE NET:

--UCLA study on obesity: http://www.healthpolicy.ucla.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pubID=144

--California Office of the Patient Advocate: http://www.opa.ca.gov/

--Nutrition Education Web site, Devid Geffen School of Medicine, UCLA: http://apps.medsch.ucla.edu/nutrition/nutritioncenter.htm

--Future of Obesity and Chronic-Disease Management in Health Care: The HMO Perspective: http://www.obesityresearch.org/cgi/content/full/10/suppl_1/79S

--North American Association for the Study of Obesity: http://www.obesityresearch.org/

--American Obesity Association: http://www.obesity.org/

--Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/

--Weight-control Information Network: http://win.niddk.nih.gov/publications/understanding.htm

--U.S. Surgeon General: http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/topics/obesity/

--"From Table to Grave" special report: http://lang.sbsun.com/socal/tabletograve/

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Source: San Bernardino County Sun

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