This is the Weight and Healthcare newsletter! If you appreciate the content here, please consider supporting the newsletter by subscribing and/or sharing! I hear from a lot of people who are on Medicare and Medicaid that they have been told that they are required to weigh in at their appointments or the services won’t be covered.
Not only can Medi/Medi patients decline being weighed, BUT...it's possible to have the noxious BMI
number, along with a weight figure gotten from God-knows-where, REMOVED from your records. Yup - you may have to be a wee tad bit pushy, but who cares? This is called defending your position.
I know - I did this last year at my Cedars-Sinai gp's office. Both numbers, the BMI & a weight that
likely came from an anaesthesiologist who treated me for a prior surgery, were REMOVED from my
records - I saw it for myself. Sometimes we just have to be not so nice in order to get what we need.
Next goal: seeing to it that the word "obese" is NEVER used in conjunction with my size. For the record, I am a rawboned 5'6" and weigh 185 pounds. Some people just see mountains of fat wherever
they look.
As always, a HUGE "thank you" to you, Ragen, for making this work so visible to so many who need it.
Thank you for this piece! Any recommendations on how to navigate the discreet part of why weighing was declined? Also is it discreet to protect the patient from harm or discreet because Medicaid/Medicare don't want to promote the option?
Are Medicare and Medicaid Patients Required to Weigh-In?
MEGA MEGA thank you for this, Ragen! SO glad to have this resource to share with others. You are a gem!
Thank you for writing about this!! This question comes up all the time and I'm so glad to have this resource to send to readers.
Not only can Medi/Medi patients decline being weighed, BUT...it's possible to have the noxious BMI
number, along with a weight figure gotten from God-knows-where, REMOVED from your records. Yup - you may have to be a wee tad bit pushy, but who cares? This is called defending your position.
I know - I did this last year at my Cedars-Sinai gp's office. Both numbers, the BMI & a weight that
likely came from an anaesthesiologist who treated me for a prior surgery, were REMOVED from my
records - I saw it for myself. Sometimes we just have to be not so nice in order to get what we need.
Next goal: seeing to it that the word "obese" is NEVER used in conjunction with my size. For the record, I am a rawboned 5'6" and weigh 185 pounds. Some people just see mountains of fat wherever
they look.
As always, a HUGE "thank you" to you, Ragen, for making this work so visible to so many who need it.
Thank you for this piece! Any recommendations on how to navigate the discreet part of why weighing was declined? Also is it discreet to protect the patient from harm or discreet because Medicaid/Medicare don't want to promote the option?
I have both Medicare and Medicaid. I always decline to be weighed unless there is a valid reason for it. There seldom is.