Positive feedback locally to province's proposed OHIP + plan

A lot of positive reaction on Thursday at One Kids Place Children’s Treatment Centre as the premier detailed OHIP +.

The province’s plan provides prescription medication, for free, to patients who are 24 years old or younger.

Dr. Mary Grise is the head of Pediatric Services at the North Bay Regional Health Centre.

She says expanding the age to 24 will bring a lot of relief to families.

“I see a lot of families where maybe jobs are changing, they might have had benefits and then they lose benefits because somebody is let go from a job, there are a lot of people working part-time who don’t have benefits,” she says.

Dr Grise also says in many cases patients are covered by their parents medical plan until 18, then they’re cut off from benefits and they have to adjust while they’re at university.

The province says beginning January 1, 2018, the proposed program will provide free prescription medications for more than four million children and young people, helping families who may not have access to comprehensive drug benefit plans. Coverage will be automatic, with no upfront costs.

Beyond the most common prescriptions, OHIP+ will give children and young people access to more than 4,400 drugs reimbursed under the Ontario Drug Benefit Program, including medications funded through the Exceptional Access Program, at no cost. Medications that will be covered include asthma inhalers, antibiotics, drugs to treat depression, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and oral contraceptives.