OMA calls on government to end three-month wait for OHIP applicants
The Ontario Medical Association (OMA), the body that represents the province’s physicians, has called on the provincial government to eliminate the three-month wait time for people applying for Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) coverage. The current waiting period applies to most new applicants and former Ontario residents who have returned after living outside Canada for a long period. In their statement, the OMA expresses concern that the existing policy adversely impacts the health of new immigrants, returning Canadians and the wider community, and offers evidence that health costs would not increase if the wait time was removed.
The OMA press release, “End the 3-Month Wait for OHIP: Ontario’s Doctors,” April 20, 2011, is available at www.oma.org.
For information about the OHIP coverage waiting period, visit the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care website at www.health.gov.on.ca.