OHIP coverage could end for Ontarians while travelling abroad

Two Ontario boys overlook the Gulf of Mexico on a cruise ship on March 9, 2019. (Melanie Borrelli / CTV Windsor)

Health coverage changes could be on the horizon for Ontarians who travel outside of Canada.

The Ford government is proposing to end OHIP coverage when Ontarians go outside of Canada. He says most tourists buy private health insurance for trips anyways.

A proposed amendment to the Health Insurance Act was released on Wednesday. It says the PCs want to end the Out of Country Travellers Program run by OHIP.

The program covered $400 per day for higher level care like the Intensive Care Unit and operating room, $200 per day for lower levels of care and $50 per day for outpatient services.

The Ford government says those reimbursed under the program received five per cent of their total medical costs on average, and OHIP itself believes 90 per cent of travellers who fall ill abroad already purchase travel medical insurance.

The proposed change would take effect on Oct. 1, 2019.

The Ministry of Health and Long Term Care says based on comments received during consultations with the travel insurance industry in April 2019, ending of the OOC Travellers Program would result in a small increase in premiums and some one-time transitional costs.

The province spends $2.8 million to administer approximately $9 million in claim payments through the program every year, something highlighted by Ontario's Auditor General in her 2018 annual report.

Anyone who wants to comment on the amendment has until April 30.

With files from CP24 and The Canadian Press.