Tuesday, April 07, 2009

Important news for Ontarians considering US based weight loss surgery


Given the exceedingly long wait times in Ontario for bariatric surgery (up to 3 years) OHIP has been routinely footing the bill for more procedures to be done in a timely manner in the United States.

Last week Ontario's Ministry of Health put a bit of a crimp on this process by publishing a list of "preferred providers" which has allowed the Ministry to negotiate with them packages of services and discounted prices. The price to Ontarians is simple - OHIP won't pay for a provider that has not entered into a preferred provider agreement (PPA).

This is all effective April 1st, 2009. All applications for non-PPA providers received before then are not affected.