Tummy Tuck questions

My sister inlaw works for a plastic surgeon. She told me after a certain amount of weight loss that ohip covers a tt if there is an apron. I did ask at TLBC but they told me that it is about $ 7000.
I am not ready yet but I do believe that will go in that direction.

Yes a friend of mine from work had her tummy tuck covered by OHIP and another friend had her breast lifted and covered by OHIP, from what I understand it all depends on the depth of the hang.

Do clinics like TLBC do the same thing ? When I was there and asked the qustion on the cost of a tummy tuck jill told me anywhere from $7000 - $15,000 depending on what they do ! There was really no mention on any coverage by OHIP on any level. I am not ready for one now. I would like to lose 50 lbs, but I want all my ducks in a row when that time comes.

OHIP does not cover tummy tucks any longer. What they cover on a very rare occasion is a panniculectomy. A tummy tuck is the full deal where they remove the excess skin, tighten the abdominal muscles, relocate the belly button to where it should be. A panniculectomy is stricly the removal of the apron, so that's any skin that is sagging below the belly button. There is no tightening of muscles or relocating the belly button. They are two very different surgeries with 2 very different outcomes. Most plastic surgeons will not do a panniculectomy either. They will do a full tummy tuck and if you have OHIP approval for the panniculectomy then they will charge you the difference between the 2.

I know Alberta Health Care covers a tummy tuck...after a huge weight loss.
Angie

I am not sure what the wait is here, my sister inlaw does the paperwork for the doctor for OHIP so she knows what they will allow. I do plan on finding out.

I've spoken to 3 surgeons regarding this already and pretty much was told the same thing by all 3. If you have rashes, infections, cysts, etc under the apron and have medical documented proof that you have been seeing your doctor regarding these issues then they can apply to OHIP with this information along with pictures and then OHIP decides whether to cover the panniculectomy portion or not. It can take up to 2 years to get approval and the surgeons I spoke to won't even bother going through the trouble of doing the OHIP forms for this anymore since they are approving only about 1% of the applications. The cost of a panniculectomy is about $1500 so if that's all you truly want then you might want to pay out of pocket for that instead of jumping through hoops. It's not as good a fix as a tummy tuck but it's much cheaper considering tummy tucks run from about $7500 up to over $10 000 and then if you want the full lower body lift which fixes the tummy, the sides and the back, it's over $15 000. Those that had their full tummy tucks covered after a huge weight loss years ago are extremely lucky since they stopped covering the full thing about 5 years ago. After paying $16 000 for the band, it would have been nice to have the tummy tuck covered but since it no longer is, it's off to pay I go.

Yasmina,

Tracey is completely right on this one OHIP covers what is called a Panni... and only in cases where the apron is interfering with your quality of life, ie rashes and scarring from the rashes requiring home care and this must be documented over a period of time. Breast reduction is covered if they remove more than 500cc of tissue (which is the equivalent to a c to d cup implant, my PS tossed it over and said if I take that much out what will you have left.... ) (Both the TT and breast lift add the tightening of tissue to the surgery and are done in a private clinic where OHIP is done in a hospital)
OHIP used to cover panni's with relative ease but because of the increase in WLS and patients wanting the surgery they now make the surgeons jump through hoops to get it covered. I asked when I had PS 4.5 years ago.
I know some people who have had portions covered of PS but their surgeons have fudged their records in my opinion based on what they told me and frankly I wouldn't want to go to a surgeon who is willing to shortcut for OHIP to pay cause what are they going to shortcut on the table while they have me open.
My other opinion on this is choose a PS who has a lot of experience with Weight loss patients because our skin is a lot different than most people it is damaged and stretched and it is much harder to work with and get the results you want if you are not as experienced with patients who have had dramatic weight loss.

Heather

Thanks that is a very good point.
thank you

I'm a bit disenchanted with Alberta Health Care. They are only covering the cost of 25 lap bands per year in Calgary when there are over 800 people in line for it.

Does anyone know if the Tummy Tuck line up is just as long?

As has been said most PS will not work with OHIP on the TT thing.

They get paid a lot more if you self pay, and they dont have to do the OHIP paperwork.

If by some miracle you get OHIP approval, you will have a hard time finding a good PS to work for a fraction of what he would earn if you were self pay.

I got a TT last week, paid $6750.00 - it's already worth it.

Yesterday I bought a new pair of pants to wear to work on my first day back -----------size 4 wooohooooo