Healthcare costs before and after bariatric surgery in Israel: a nationwide retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVES

Studies show conflicting evidence regarding individuals' healthcare costs following bariatric surgeries. This study aimed to evaluate the healthcare costs of individuals with obesity before and after bariatric surgery and compare them to a matched control group.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

SETTING

Primary care nationwide.

PARTICIPANTS

This retrospective cohort study included all adults insured by Maccabi Healthcare Services who underwent bariatric surgery between 2015 and 2019 and a control group matched by body mass index, age, gender and socioeconomic status (case n=10 178).

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES

We collected each patient's annual costs for six consecutive years (3 years before and after the index date). We used generalised linear mixed models to assess the interaction between time (presurgery vs postsurgery) and group (bariatric vs control) on healthcare costs during the second and third years before and after surgery, adjusting for covariates not matched between groups, including smoking status, ethnicity and comorbidities. The analyses were made in three age groups: young adults (18-39), adults (40-64) and older adults (65 or more).

RESULTS

From 2015-2019, 10 178 bariatric surgeries were performed (51.9% sleeve gastrectomy, 36.7% bypass surgeries and 11.4% combined surgeries). Total healthcare costs increased after the index date in both the bariatric and control groups, with a greater absolute increase in the bariatric group; however, the between-group differences in cost changes were not statistically significant (p=0.987 for younger adults, p=0.311 for adults and p=0.771 for older adults).

CONCLUSION

While healthcare costs increased in both groups following the index date, the lack of a significant difference between the bariatric and control groups suggests that bariatric surgery may not lead to short-term cost savings. Ongoing long-term follow-up is essential to fully understand its economic impact.