Next step: Filed with defeated bills.

Genevieve Winegar weighed 348 pounds before undergoing gastric bypass surgery in 2002.

The 23-year-old Midvale woman, who now weighs 150 pounds, implored legislators Wednesday to pass a bill requiring insurance companies to cover the surgery for morbidly obese Utahns. Before her operation, she endured sleep apnea, acid reflux, a diseased gall bladder and joint pain.

"Without this tool, I would not be alive today," she said.

But people rallying for the legislation will have to wait until next year.

Sensing the bill would fail to garner enough support, Rep. Steve Mascaro, R-West Jordan, asked a House committee to send his bill back for study this summer. The panel agreed.

Salt Lake City surgeon Steven Simper said the gastric bypass procedures cost less than treating heart attacks, strokes and other health problems related to obesity.

"This is important because obesity is a disease, not a social disorder," he said.

But Kelly Atkinson, executive director of the Utah Health Insurance Association, said the mandate would place an unfair burden on small businesses. "This is a significant cost," he said.

The bill's $9 million fiscal note covered the cost of the surgeries for enrollees in the Public Employees Health Program, but nothing for the private sector.

Last year, Medicare beneficiaries received expanded coverage of such surgery. Insurance companies typically follow Medicare's moves, but many have been hesitant to cover the procedure, which costs between $14,000 and $24,000 in Utah and can lead to complications, even death.

Winegar argued the surgery is "not the easy way out. I want my story to tell others that morbid obesity is a disease, not a choice. The choice is in getting help."

chamilton@sltrib.com