U.S. military health insurance officials are reviewing their decision to deny weight-loss surgery to a 12-year-old Texas girl with a rare medical condition that has left her morbidly obese, NBC News reported. TRICARE, which provides insurance for Alexis Shapiro's father, Ian Shapiro, an Air Force veteran, told NBC News in an email that a final decision should be made in a matter of days. Alexis, 12, became morbidly obese and is still gaining weight due to a runaway condition that resulted from a brain tumor surgery. TRICARE initially denied the request for gastric bypass surgery because there wasn’t enough detail on the application, said Austin Camacho, a spokesman. After NBC News reported Saturday on Alexis' situation, donors contributed at least $ 78,000 to pay for the potentially life-saving surgery — money that her mother said will go to help other ill children if the government comes through.
