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The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) is a nonprofit partnership between the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

(Courtesy graphic)

LANSING — Severely obese individuals spent an average of $3,400 more on health care than healthy weight people, according to a study of adults covered by Michigan's largest health insurer.

Health care costs averaged $7,117 per year for severely obese individuals, nearly twice that of $3,722 for healthy weight people, according to a report from the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT), a nonprofit partnership between the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.

Health care costs averaged $4,043 for overweight individuals and $4,718 for moderately obese people, further illustrating the correlation between weight and health problems.

Severely obese people were 1.25 to three times more likely to have a serious chronic condition and 50 percent more likely to have three or more comorbid conditions than those who were moderately obese. The differences were larger when compared to overweight and healthy weight individuals.

The report is based on 2010 data on 29,691 adults covered by BCBSM. More than 70 percent were overweight or obese, including 14 percent in the "severely obese" category, defined as having a body mass index of 35 or higher.

The report noted that bariatric surgery and patient counseling on diet and exercise plans through intensive behavioral therapy are effective ways to help those who are severely obese.

Bariatric weight loss surgery is significantly underutilized, said CHRT Director Marianne Udow-Phillips.

"There's clearly a barrier here for people getting that treatment, whether it's because they're not aware of it, or whether it's because they're worried about the surgery," she said.

Udow-Phillips said she's been tracking the costs associated with bariatric surgery for the last few years, and while it appears that costs increase in the first couple of years post-surgery, she expects the procedure will result in lower overall costs in the long term.

Gov. Rick Snyder has focused on reducing obesity, noting in a 2011 special message that nearly $3 billion in annual medical costs are attributed to obesity in Michigan. The state ranked 10th nationally with an obesity rate of about 31 percent in 2012, according to the Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Email Melissa Anders at manders@mlive.com. Follow her on Google+ and Twitter: @MelissaDAnders. Download the MLive app for iPhone and Android.