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Bariatric surgery - weight loss surgery - can change lives. Several people at the Washington University Weight Management Program had to put that change on hold when Medicare announced in March that it would only cover bariatric surgery performed at medical centers designated as Centers of Excellence by the American Society for Bariatric Surgery (ASBS).

Americans are getting heavier. Much heavier. More people than ever are more than 100 pounds overweight – a condition called morbid obesity – and more of them are turning to surgery to drop the weight. Last year, about 140,000 Americans had bariatric procedures.