A county in Texas made big news last week when it announced that it would pay for weight-loss surgeries for its employees to cut down on health costs.

But hue and cry from the public may end up with the program being cut, according to the Houston Chronicle.

"I just didn't have any idea the public would be so incensed," said Gerald Daugherty, who cast the swing vote on a split Travis County Commissioners Court.

The program called for paying for up to 15 bariatric surgeries per year during a five-year trial. The surgeries, which involve reducing the size of the stomach or rerouting the intestines, would each cost about $15,000 to $25,000, the county said.

To qualify for the program, county employees would have to be diagnosed with morbid obesity and go through one year of monitored unsuccessful dieting and exercise. The county estimates that 300 to 400 of its 4,100 employees would be eligible for the surgery.

Darn, there goes my plan to move to Texas.....

-- Amanda Barrett, amNY.com