Shared on behalf of Dino Armenti, Director, Financial Services and Jeannine Skinner, Manager, Patient Billing
Effective April 1, 2023, the Ministry of Health will no longer reimburse the Hospital for patients with no primary insurance. As a result, patients without primary insurance will be billed for all services received. Services provided only up to March 31, 2023 may still be claimed under the Uninsured Persons program.
As you may recall, the Uninsured Persons program was established by the Ministry of Health as a temporary measure during the COVID-19 pandemic. All Ontario hospitals have been advised to return to pre-pandemic billing practices for uninsured patients.
Health811 is available as a resource to connect patients with a registered nurse day or night for free, secure and confidential health advice. Patients can be directed to call 811 (TTY: 1- 866-797-0007) or go to ontario.ca/health811.
Effective April 1, 2023, the Ministry of Health is also adjusting the claims submission period for OHIP fee-for-service insured and related services from six months to three months from the date a service is rendered in Ontario.
This means that if the patient does not have a or has not obtained and provided the Hospital with their valid OHIP number and version code within the three-month claim period, the patient will be responsible to pay for all hospital services billed on their account.
It is imperative that you advise all staff of these two changes so we can ensure that patients are informed appropriately and understand the reinstatement of the pre-pandemic billing process.