DENIED NB medicare approval for surgery in US

Today was a rough day...I went to see my family doctor and he had received a letter from NB medicare stating that they would not "entertain the idea" of financiall yassisting for WLS in the US.  If I can find a public hospital in Canada, I can reapply but private clinics in Canada will not be approved either....does anyone know a public hospital in Canada that doesnt have a 5 yr waiting list?  My docpt has sent me on a vnture to appeal to my MLA and health Minister he is going to contact tMedicare for me and appeal that verdict as well.  I'm not hopefull.  It seems I may have to self pay all of it if I want to get it done within the next 6 months or so.  Any body have any suggestions

thanks
Angela

Oh Angela

I am sorry for your news.... I know how disheartening and troubling it is to be denied- except for funding in the public system... just a guess but I would imagine that Dr Savoy has the shortest list considering he is just starting- I realize that he has not started on his DS list though from what others have said on this forum.

I am on the Ontario board daily - I dont even know if they would accept out of province as they are still having to send patients state side - I know that Nova Scotia Medicare told me they would pay for WLS in a public hospital except for Quebec- I dont know if the same is true with NB medicare.

Keeping my fingers crossed for you

deb

Hello Im from Nb, just moved to edmonton ab 3 years ago. I went through the weight wise program here in edmonton and it is a years wait. maybe this helps?

Are you not already on Dr. B.'s waiting list? 

I was self pay and got done in just a few months with Dr. B.  It was about $5,500 and worth every penny.  If you can afford it, it's worth it.  Best of luck with whichever route you decide to take.  Patsy

I wrote to the NB health minister also, and got a similar reply.  US and private Canadian clinics were not going to be covered, but to talk to my GP to see if I could get moved up the list.  I never went that route, because that was right before Dr Savoie came around, and his wait time was nothing like the 8 year wait time i was given to see Dr Beausoleil.


Amary

I went to my family doctor earlier this week and asked if she could do anything to move me up the list and she said there wasn't. Once the referral goes to Dr. Savoie and Dr. Beausoliel that's all she can do. I called both doctors and the person that takes care of the consults with Dr. Savoie is out of the office for 2 weeks so they told me to call back to get my status. According to the person I spoke with at Dr. Beausoliel's office, they are still working on referrals from 2006. Guess I'll be waiting.......... I'm not alone from what I've read but it's still frustrating!

A  doctor can advocate for patients whos health puts them at greater risk than others on the list. That is what I would ask my doctor to do if I were Angela.

Unfortunately, anyone who is heavy enough to qualify for wls is bound to have co-morbidities. That is actually one of the requirements to have wls in the first place. Waiting really sucks but everyone is in the same boat. Everyone who is waiting has some life threatning co-morbidity that may shorten their lives. It would be really unfair if Jane Doe was waiting for 5 years for wls and had 3 co-morbidities and June Dill who had co-morbidities too  was moved up ahead of her making Jane Doe wait even longer. That would noit be fair. As far as co-morbidities go they are all as bad as each other. If they were immently life threatning, you would not qualify for surgery in the first place. When I had my heart attack the first thing my cardiologist said was I may now not qualify for wls. That was the worse news I had heard that day but fortunately a year went by, I lost a lot of weight and got myself into some fashion of exercise program and was accepted. I would have been royally p**** if I had gotten bumped by someone else for whatever reason. I had waited long enough.  

I think it even sucks that those with money get their wls ahead of those who do not have money but I suppose that's how the world runs. So much for equal health care for all Canadians regardless of means.  I guess wls is still considered an elective surgery.

I think what's worse is that my friends mother needs hip replacement. She went from using a walker to now she is unable to walk at all and is in constant pain. She has been waiting for her surgery for 3 years. Joint replacement is considered an elective surgery too. There is still no end to her waiting in sight.

I dont believe I mentioned anything in my original post about trying to bump people.  However, I know that if I was aware that someone much heavier than me who had lots if issues, I would not hesitate to want them to have treatment before me.  I personally do not agree that people should be treated like a number or a date on a referral...they need to be looked at as individuals, their issues, their quality of life, how productive they are in society etc. 

I'm very discouraged with the system as many are.