Starting January 1, 2018, anyone 24 years of age or younger living in Ontario has access to more than 4,400 free prescription medicines. In addition, no co-pay or deductible will be charged.
If you are 24 or younger and have OHIP coverage you are automatically covered by OHIP+: Children and Youth Pharmacare. You don’t have to enroll or register.
OHIP+ coverage will stop on your 25th birthday, but you may qualify for other financial help with prescription drug costs.
OHIP+ completely covers the cost of more than 4,400 drug products that are currently available through the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan including:
- antibiotics to treat infections
- inhalers for asthma
- various insulins, oral diabetic medications and diabetes test strips
- epinephrine auto-injectors (e.g. EPIPENs®)
- drugs to treat arthritis, epilepsy and other chronic conditions
- medications to treat mental health conditions (e.g. antidepressants)
- attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) drugs
- drugs to treat some childhood cancers and other rare conditions
If you’re a parent and your child needs covered medication:
- Visit your child’s doctor or nurse practitioner and a get prescription for your child.
- Take your child’s health card OR health card number to any pharmacy in Ontario – you don’t need a separate or special card.
- The pharmacy will fill their prescription at no charge – you don’t pay a dispensing fee, deductible or co-payment.
If you’re 24 years old or under and need a covered medication:
- Visit your doctor or nurse practitioner and get your prescription.
- Take your health card OR health card number to any pharmacy in Ontario – you don’t need a separate or special card.
- The pharmacy will fill your prescription at no charge – you don’t pay a dispensing fee, deductible or co-payment.
If you’re going to university or college in another province, your prescriptions may still be covered by OHIP+ if you:
- remain insured by OHIP
- have a valid prescription
- get your medications from a pharmacy in Ontario
To learn more go to: https://www.ontario.ca/page/learn-about-ohip-plus