Anyone know how to get scleral lenses at BFS covered by Health Canada?

[Guest]

Hi all!

If I recall correctly, someone had mentioned on an older thread that scleral lenses at BFS can be covered by Health Canada if your doc fills out the paperwork... (ie. I'd still have to pay my travel and hotel costs, but the lenses themselves would be covered)

Just wondering if anyone here has successfully gotten them covered by Health Canada, and if so, how?

Thanks for reading!

[odydnas]

Hi SAAG,

I am not Canadian, so i have no idea. But while I was at BFS, I did meet several Canadians that did get their lenses covered. Unfortunately, I do not have their contact info and I do not know how they were able to get this done, but if no one else is able to give you an answer, you can try contacting Brenda Diaz (bdiaz@bostonsight.org), the new patient coordinator at BFS for info. She is extremely helpful and works with patients coming from all around the globe and should be able to help you get started and answer some questions. Also, what is extremely helpful about BFS is that if they are unable to answer a question, they are sometimes able to get you in touch with a Canadian patient that has gone through the process and then can provide better answers.

Good luck!

[spmcc]

RE: BFS for Canadians

My ophthalmologist in Vancouver has sent patients to BFS and the lenses were covered by Health Canada (but not the travel, hotel, food while there, etc). She was going to do the same for me but I didn't want to wait the 2-3 months for approval and went right away to Dallas and paid for the whole thing myself.

Anyway, if you want the ophthalmologist's name you can PM me. I don't know if her people could explain to your doctor's people how to go about requesting this...

Cheers,
Sheila

[Guest]

Thank you both for your replies! I'll e-mail the BFS patient coordinator for more info on the process, plus, I'll send you a PM spmcc for your doc's name. I see my ophthamologist at the end of September... so this way, if he doesn't know the process for getting these lenses covered, at least I'll have a name for him to contact to find out how to do it!

Thanks again guys!

[Aaron77]

My current opthamologist says that because I had lasik I can't go to BFS for sclerals and have it covered by Health Canada, if I had some type of naturally occuring eye desease he might send me but not for lasik induced eye desease.

[Guest]

Wow... do you think it's because not enough time has passed since you had LASIK (ie. your doc is thinking you might still heal on your own?) or because it's viewed as a self-inflicted problem therefore they won't pay for it???

[RobLIC]

Aaron, I hope you would consult with a different ophthalmologist on that question. While I don't live in Canada, I'd guess there are any number of dry eye-related diseases a decent human being could legitimately diagnose you with that would qualify you.

In the States, our disability insurers are not allowed to consider the "cause" of a problem when determining eligibility for disability. That just sounds like "punishment" for getting sick after an elective surgery.

[Perception]

My current opthamologist says that because I had lasik I can't go to BFS for sclerals and have it covered by Health Canada, if I had some type of naturally occuring eye desease he might send me but not for lasik induced eye desease.

I also do not live in Canada, but find this quite discouraging. Is it possible to see another doc for a second opinion?

Good luck to you both (Aaron and SAAG). I live in the Boston area, so may be able to answer questions related to local travel if you do make the trip to BFS.

[Laura]

Hello
Let me know if you still requre what u need fo rthis to get covered By Health Canada

[Huss]

Interested as well if anybody knows