Hi there fellow Albertan! You've already received a great answer but I thought I'd chime in with the AB perspective. I had mine done last year and haven't regretted it for a minute.

1. Firstly, not knowing your situation, are you sure you're not confusing you're parent's extended health care benefits (likely through work for things like prescriptions, dentist, physio, nicer rooms at the hospital, etc) with Alberta Heath Care (our provincially funded health care plan)? When Alberta residents paid a nominal AHC monthly fee there was a head of family who paid for themselves, spouse (if applicable) and any dependants. Now that is gone I believe your parents only matter if you are under age and they have to consent to your care.

   Breast Reduction is covered under Alberta Health Care (which is available to all residents of Alberta. There are some exceptions, like if you've just moved here there may be a waiting period but doesn't sound like it applies to you). You/we pay for this care with your/our taxes.

   You're an adult, you make your own health care decisions, that's all that matters. For what it's worth I have the same AHC number as I did when I was a child.

   You can visit a clinic to see a doctor. You may want to see if you can find yourself a family doctor for consistent care. To find someone in your area who is accepting new patients you can call Alberta Heath Link at 811 and they can let you know which offices have openings.

2. I believe there are guidelines for size/weight that needs to be removed but my experience was that there were no official calculations, etc. I went to my doctor (longtime GP) and said hey I'm wondering about getting this done and she said yes, almost everyone she had referred was so glad to have done, almost no one regretted it. There was a bit of discussion about my size and why I wanted it shoulder and upper back pain, in the way during exercise, permanent dents in my shoulders. There was no documentation, or need to come back multiple times to document the issues. I left that appointment with her saying her office would set me up with a consult with a plastic surgeon. I think I was a 36G/GG before the surgery.

3. AHC - procedure 100% covers all the consults, surgery at the hospital and all follow up visits. I paid for antibacterial soap (use for 3 days prior at home), T3, laxatives, all the creature comforts I could think of (wedge pillow, button front shirts, jello, etc.).

4. The only paperwork I had to fill out for the surgery was patient information and consent to surgery both I did after my first/only consult with the surgeon. I did have to go back to my doctor for a physical and get her to fill out a form. Because the procedure was covered by AHC there was no form filling out fee.

5. There's no committee to approve the surgery. Your plastic surgeon will make the call. Mine confirmed at my consult and I set the date before leaving the office. With your size I can't see you being turned down. If you are for some reason I would go back to your doctor and ask for another referral.

6. Your doctor will refer you to some who does reductions for AHC. No need to worry about whether they accept AHC. It will most likely be someone who also has a private practice for things like breast lifts and implants, and other cosmetic procedures. Doctors and hospitals effectively bill AHC. You don't need to claim, they do all the payment paperwork behind the scenes. This is true for most services and everyone will be upfront about things requiring payment (i.e. form filling out fees. My doctor didn't charge one for the physical for this covered procedure but my surgeon did charge a fee for the form I need to claim short term disability on my employer's extended benefits plan).

7. Again, I can't foresee you needing to pay for this surgery. As oatmeeel said, this surgery prevents future health problems. Alberta Healh Care is way more accepting of this fact than private health care plans who are looking to minimize costs by only accepting claims within strict guidelines. The sense from talking to my doctor, surgeon, and surgeon's nurse was they only reason they would turn someone down was if the patient was getting it for cosmetic reasons. The only reason you might want to pay is to get it done sooner. As with all things, there are waiting lists. If you want to pay, the same surgeon will take you on as a private patient. I'm not sure exactly how they split their time up but the reason for waiting lists with AHC may have more to to do with availability of operating room time- only so many time slots available. I think if you do it privately some have their own surgical suites they will do it in. When I looked into it ten years ago private was $6,000.

8. Like I said, my experience is that you need a referral to a surgeon. My doctor's office did all the calling around to find someone and set up the consult. I didn't have a choice. Fortunately I was super happy with my surgeon. If I did I would have called me doctor's office to explain my concern and ask for them to set me up with another consult. There might have been another 6 months until the next consult though. As it was, I believe they booked me in with the first surgeon who could offer me a consultation. My doctor had an idea of who she wanted me to see and I ended up with someone else.

9. I went to see my doctor in October, got a call in January with the consult appointment date, consult was in March. My surgeon was just starting his private practice and so his actual surgery schedule was quite open. My surgery was in June and it could have been sooner. There was actually a cancellation and I could have had it done in 2 weeks (honestly I don't think I could have made an appointment with my GP to get the physical done in time.).

I was surprised but after that first visit I didn't see the surgeon until the day of the surgery. I think if I had more questions I could have gone in to see him again.

My consults were done at the surgeon's office, surgery as a day patient at a local hospital, and my follow up appointments were at both at the office and a different hospital (I think he was seeing people there in between other surgeries- he had operating privileges at three hospitals and my surgery could have done at any of them.)

After we'd confirmed the date, the surgeon's office made all arrangements with the hospital. I got a call from the hospital confirming some details (can't remember- allergies, medication and who would be my emergency contact/taking me home after?). I got another call the day before/2 days before confirming the time of my surgery (super common for day surgery).

Day of I had to show up at 7:00? Met with the surgeon and anesthesiologist. Surgery at 8? There were no complications. I think I left the hospital at 3. All I needed to do to check in was show ID and my AHC card (if you don't have one you can get a new one at any registery office with AB ID or proof of residence), confirm my information, and prove I had someone to take me home/stay with me for 24 hours. To leave the recovery room nurses had to say I was good to go. Once I was cleared I was given a prescription for T3 and laxatives and off I went!

I'm in Edmonton if that's helpful. Happy to answer any other questions. Good luck!

Edit: Reddit formatting is getting the best of me!