What OHIP covers — and what you pay for

Generally covered

• Visits with a family physician or walk-in physician
• Medically necessary procedures, referrals and specialist care
• Hospital and emergency care
• Most laboratory tests ordered by a physician
• Publicly funded immunizations, including routine childhood vaccines
• Pregnancy care and eligible screening tests

Generally not covered

• Employment, school, camp, daycare and insurance forms
• Sick notes and return-to-work letters
• Driver's medicals and pre-employment physicals
• Travel consultations and travel vaccines
• Transfer or copying of medical records
• Prescriptions written without a visit, and phone or letter requests from third parties
• Cosmetic procedures

Why clinics charge

A physician is not paid by OHIP for time spent completing an insurance form or writing a note for an employer. That work happens outside the insured visit, so it carries its own fee — one the Ontario Medical Association publishes guidance on.

A good clinic tells you the price up front and gives you a receipt you can submit to a private insurer, many of which reimburse these costs.

If you do not have a health card

Newcomers in the three-month waiting period, visitors and students without coverage can still be seen. Visits are billed at posted rates, and asking about the cost before the appointment is entirely reasonable.