Helping People Lose Weight Via Traditional & Surgery Alternatives
VIHA Announces Drastic Cutbacks in Bariatric Surgery
The Victoria Times Colonist announced today that VIHA is reducing Bariatric Surgery to 52 cases per year. This is a reduction of more than 60%. Over the last few years, more than 124 surgeries have been done annually.
This means that there will be no further Bariatric cases done after Nov/2009 in the Vancouver Island Health Authority region until the new fiscal year begins on April 1, 2010. Over 600 patients currently on the bariatric by-pass wait list from all over BC will no longer have access to an MSP insured service, even though many have been waiting for 2 or 3 years for their surgery.
Surgeons are now turning to the only viable option for many patients which is to process “Out of Country Claim Forms” so patients can receive their gastric bypass surgery in Seattle or elsewhere.
Patients are face with debilitating and life threatening co-morbidity challenges. If they can’t receive out of country approval, many will be forced to fund their own Banding surgery ($15,000 – $20,000) or take their chances until VIHA and MSP funding is available. With VIHA’s latest cutback annoucement, wait times for by-pass surgery in BC are now expected to exceed 5 years.
It is really inexcusable for our health care system to fund surgery out of country that could be done here if funding was available. In Victoria we already have the infrastructure in place to do 300 cases per year. The cost of the OR supplies for the cases are approximately $4,000.00 per case and the cost of a 1 to 2 day hospital stay are approximately $3000.00 per case. For 2 million dollars we could provide almost all the Bariatric/Metabolic By-pass Surgery services that citizens of BC need right here in Victoria.
Last year the government gave an extra 1 million dollars to the VIHA program as a one time grant. The morbidly obese patients of the province need help and assistance. This surgery saves lives. It saves money in health care costs for patients and the pay back time is 2 years on average. Many patients no longer have diabetes, sleep apnea, arthritis in their lower extremities and do not require joint replacement surgery after lossing their weight through bariatric surgery.
British Columbians will expereince severe hardships due to the VIHA cutback as Victoria is the only referral centre available for the rest of the Province for Bariatric/Metabolic By-pass Surgery.
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24 Comments
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wow that is crazy. i guess i wont be getting surgery done for a long time but at least i can hope that one say my day will come. i have have waited all my life to have a tool to help me lose weight and now i get my hopes up that my surgeron says i will be done before xmas now the government does this so i guess i will get done when they decide to have me done.
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make sure you respond to the survey ron sent out….may make a difference
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This saddens me a great deal
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Hmm! Well VIHA may have just signed my dissability papers or worse yet my death certificate. I have Chronic Renal Failure and without this surgery I have a higher risk of complete kidney failure and will need a kidney transplant. Also I have Osteoarthritis in my spine so in 5 years I could be on complete disability if it progresses and gets worse. I deffinately think that paying for the surgery NOW will be much cheeper for the government then paying for the alternatives. But I guess they dont look into the big picture.
I AM ANGRY!!! Whats the point in writing letters cause no one listens anyways. Nothing I can do except sit back and accept whatever happens. That and continue making an effort to get the weight off on my own. -
I’m speechless! I thought they had found all ways possible to screw us, but they came up with another one.
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Ron,
Can you clarify please, does this include ALL types of Bariatric surgeries or just the By-Pass surgery?
Doesn’t the Vertical Gastric Sleeve get seperate funding?
In any case this is very discouraging for me, as it is my disability benefits are being cut; they say the waiting period for the WLS surgery is too long (and I’ve only been on it for 4 months!)
What is a person to do?? How do you fight that!?-
Sleeve and Roux-en-Y are the bypass surgeries covered by MSP. Any type of Banding surgery is self paid. (Gastric Sleeve is not separately funded)
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This is crushing! I am devastated…..I have waited so patiently and have jumped through every hoop possible and now this. What is wrong with this government. Their priorities are completely screwed.
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I’m in shock…. I’m scared for me cause my surgery is next wednesday, and I’m scared it will be cancelled now,, But I feel hugely guilty for thinking about myself when there are soo many people out there that this is devastating…. I logged on to share my joy of being so cloose,,,and now,,,, well, i’m pretty much speachless…. Praying for everyone out there who is feeling as desperate as I am
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First of all – let me say “This sucks!”.
That being said, the time for complaining to ourselves and the discussion boards is over. Now is the time to raise your voices to the people who make the decisions. If you haven’t written your MLA, do so now. If you haven’t sent a letter to VIHA or to your doctor for support – let them know your case.
One of the reasons it is so easy to steamroll over this issue is because it is, in realistic terms, only a small number of people are effected. Millions of millions of people will see the Olympics – they matter. Millions of people will visit and occupy Vancouver hotels – they bring in the bucks. True, saving some chornically obese people like myself will save the province thousands of dollars in health care and ensure happiness for my family, friends and workmates. But in the big scheme of things I am a pretty small fish.
Is it good? No. Is it proper and the right thing to do? Not in your life. But until we, people who have been effected by obesity, speak out to the politicians, news media, political lobbyists, and those who supported the Liberal party, to let them know what their actions have caused, we will be designated to the back of the bus. Knowlege and exposure are king.
Our disease and often our recovery can be a matter of extreme privacy. We keep obesity to ourselves and some are even hesitant to tell their family of their operation. This cannot happen if we want to be recognized. We all must tell our stories to anyone who will listen. We especially need to hear from those who have had the operation and can testify of its value.
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Does this mean that all types of WLS will no longer be covered? Does it mean that we have to add from now until the new gov’t year to our already long wait?? I have already written to my MLA and the Minister of Health. VIHA is next, but I want to have my facts straight.
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I think the article speaks for itself. VIHA will not fund more than 52 by-pass surgeries (Sleeve.Roux-en-Y) a year effective Nov 2009. That says to me that after Nov, no one will receive by-pass surgery in BC until more funds are made avail April 1st 2010 because they`ve already reached their quota AND no other Health Authority in the Province does by-pass surgery. Bariatric surgery has always been consider ELECTIVE surgery by Health Authorities and the BC Ministry of Health.
Remember – Banding type surgery has always been self paid (not covered by MSP). I am positive that VIHA will consider requests for `BANDING`as a revenue generation opportunity. That frankly, just makes me more annoyed. Health care for the rich and the rest of us can go to the Emergency Department when we have our heart attacks.
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Thanks, Ron. I just wanted to confirm that I was reading the article correctly.
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No problem … hope it makes sense, although the message sucks.
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Don’t they realize that the cost of health care is going to skyrocket. Most of these ailments will have to be taken care of by the health system in the future. This will put a burden on all people needing hip / knee replacements, cardiac surgery, back surgery and all other problems that are related to obesity. They, will be the next cuts. I have been waiting 4 years to deal with my weight problem. Hopefully looking at Spring 2010 for my sugery. It has put me in a deeper depression knowing that someone has slammed the door in my face. I think the government needs to take a closer look at what health care they are spending their money on and make a few adjustments.
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WEll THIS ANNOYS ME ALOT.
I just started coming back to dr amson as i missed an appointment and wasntable to be seen again for another year after. I got rid of a toxic bf and can now focuz on myself and my weight and i hear this? the article says three years? hmm well i was put on the list when i was 23 i beleive possibly 22 i cant remember. I am 27 now, i will be 28 in march so that is about 4 and a half years. I am (last i checked) 320 lbs and 5 foot 6. i amon 100 mg of b 12 a day for a bad liver that is due to my obeseity. I have major clinical depression, arthritus and ibs….and more im not willing to post. This makes me so angry. i dont have nearly as much health problems as some but, it could save the tax payers alot of money and the healthcare system if i got my surgery. I have a family history of heart and diabetes problems…..the genetic kind of diabetes and i believe adult onset. I dont want to be dead before i hit 40 and it looks like that might just happen. Its stuff like this that makes me want to give up. -
I am waiting for a revisional surgery to fix my previous proceedure gone wrong, and it was ordered needed by my family doctor. Will this type of surgery be affected? it really isn’t considered Elective surgery…
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I think only you doctor and/or VIHA can answer your question. Well worth getting onto them to find out!!
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This is very upsetting , we wait for 2,3,or more years only to reach disappointment. I pray for everyone awaiting surgery to improve the quality of thier lives. I have been waiting 2 years already, i hope the health authorities gets things together soon .
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I am absolutley fed up with this govt thinking that we don’t matter. I have been waiting patiently for just about four years and now this. I have jumped through all the hoops, done everything asked of me and was very pleased to hear from Dr. Amson on my last visit that I would probably finally get surgery this fall, and now this. I am not getting any younger and the risks get more and more with every passing day. If it would only take 2 million dollars to clear all patients off the waiting list, I can’t believe the govt can’t come up with that much, after all they have blown millions on the stupid olympics that are of no benifit except to a select few. What the hell, I have paid taxes and M.S.P. premiums in this Province for more than 40 years and I am danm mad the first time I really need some help in something I can’t get it. Hopefully someone will come to their sences and make the cuts where they should be and not with peoples lives.
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Just a reminder to everyone who complains about the current government – we voted them in. Now you may not have voted for the liberals but they did win. What did you do stop them? Did you suspect that they would not have our best interests at heart? I am afraid we will be stuck with them after the next election because they have no opposiion. So now is the time to start working to find representatives who will endorse our needs. The current government appear to have no foresight. They think it will save money by declining service. Shaw said “we get the government we deserve”. I think we deserve better than these guys.
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I’m very disappointed in the health care system. Something like the olympics are more important than people,s lives/health.. I,m afraid I will have a heart attack or something worse before I get to have my surgery. Sometimes I wish I could just pay for a RNY myself, but I was told that this is not an option. Is it?
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Hi Sunita:
RnY is a MSP funded surgery and for this reason, unless you can find a private clinic, you can not pay for the surgery through a Health Authority Hospital. (That would cause use to have a 2 tier medical system … one for the Rich and one for the poor). I know of no private clinics in BC who do by-pass surgery. There are some that do Banding though.
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