Effective September 1, 2021, The Ontario Association of Optometrists have withdrawn from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP).

This means that the province is no longer covering eye exams for Ontarians under age 18 or over age 64; not because they have delisted the service but because this is a work action by the Optometrists.  Because it is not delisted, eye exams for individuals, which would have been reimbursed by the Province, are still not eligible to submit these expenses to their insurance company for reimbursement.

OHIP eye care services impact the following:

Patients of any age with certain/specific medical conditions, such as glaucoma and retinal disease who receive eye exams covered under OHIP. Ontario regulation prohibits optometrists from billing direct to the patient, to workplace health insurance, or to individual private insurance for any services provided to those eligible under OHIP. Because of this, optometrists may decline eye examinations to OHIP-eligible patients.

So what’s the solution:

Eye exams can be processed through a spending account, if your company has an Health Spending Account (HSA).  For those that do not have an HSA, we are able to can one set up through our benefitsConnect’s spending account program.