can you tell me HOW to get covered by msp?

 i was talking to someone here and she said that all i had to do was get a referal from my GP, could that REALLY be all it takes to get covered? i would think it's a looooooong arduous process... could somebody inform me of what's involved in getting your surgery paid for by BC medical, i won't be going to the island to get the surgery by the way...

thanks sooooo much for any help you can give me!!

elainexoxox

Yup, that's all it takes is to ask for your dr. to refer you to the surgeon.  If you want to go out of country that's a little harder.

Hi Elaine,

There are 2 ways you can be covered by msp for your surgery.  ( that I am aware of)

1.  You get a referal from your doctor to see one of the surgeons here in BC and then get on THEIR list for surgery by them here in BC.

2.  You get a referal from your doctor to see one of the surgeons here in BC and ask him to fill out an Out Of Country form so that you can apply to have your surgery in Seattle, WA.

If you are planning on having your surgery South of the US or in the US but not through  OOC (out of country) then YOU will have to pay the bill.

Where do you plan on having your surgery?  MSP also doesn't pay for the lapband.

 hi daisy lou, wow i can't believe things have changed so much since i started researching this about 7 years ago, my doc LAUGHED at me then when i asked if it was covered... i'm hoping to get my surgery from that new doc doing it in Richmond, am planning on getting the sleeve, ASAP hopefully, now that the time is right, it's REALLY right, and i want the surgery like yesterday.... i have tried a few years of 'fat acceptance' but now i'm in so much pain and probably have diabetes that i need to forget any idea of acceptance lol thanks for the info!!! i really appreciate it :)

Elaine, both the RnY and Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy are covered by MSP but not the lap band. Not all family doctors are informed about the various surgeons who do this surgery in BC. Be sure to ask your family doctor to refer you to a surgeon who doesn't have a five+-year wait list. There are three, possibly four, surgeons in Victoria, and two in Richmond.

The surgeon to whom I was recommended has a 5+ year wait-list but he's the most popular of the lot. One lady and another gent tell me that a different surgeon there requires his patients to lose 40 lbs by themselves before he will do the surgery.

My surgeon was good enought to fill out my application for out-of-country funding which was approved and I had my VSG this past December in Seattle. I was amongst the lucky last of his patients for whom he was prepared to fill out the form. His receptionist tells me that he now has a sign up in his lobby that he will no longer be filling them out. The surgeon *****quires his patients to lose weight on their own pre-op apparently charged the aforementioned lady $100 to fill out the OOC form. He filled it in incorrectly and it was declined. So pick a surgeon who would be prepared to fill out your OOC application form in the event his waitlist is too long for you.

There is another way that MSP will pay for your procedure and there is no need to apply for pre-approval; get it done in another province. AB, SK, ON and QB all perform the surgery. If there was some way you could get it done in one of these provinces, they will bill BC Health Insurance directly, no questions asked, and BC Health will be obliged to cover the cost.

 getting it done in alberta would be great!!!! then i wouldn't have to jump thru all the hoops and wait a year right? do you know how to get in to see a surgeon in alberta??? thank you for your ever so informative post, it was educational to say the least!!! i greatly appreciate it, will cut and paste it!!!

 i was reading that the wait list is long, like a year and a half, 2 years in alberta too.... does the weight loss surgeon have to recommend you get out of country surgery? or can your gp do it?? did you still have to wait months for testing and a dietician?? how hard do you have to work to get out of country surgery?

Do Anyone Know the  surgeon who filled a OOC form. 

Has anyone actukky been able to do that? Get the surgery in another province and have them bill msp?

You need to have a specialist sign the paper work for OCC. It's not as easy as it sounds and many people get turned down repeately.
Just get on it right and have lots of patience :)