OHIP is the Ontario Health Insurance Plan. Every Ontario resident whose primary and permanent home is in Ontario, is entitled to access emergency and preventive care under OHIP free of charge. OHIP covers a wide range of medically necessary health services, including doctor and nursing services, diagnostic services such as blood tests and x-rays, medications for in-patients and out-patients and laboratory testing.

Services that you receive are billed through OHIP to the Ontario government.

For a complete list of all eligibility requirements for OHIP, please visit the Ontario Government website.

To receive care through OHIP, you will need to provide a valid health card each time you access care. This card is issued by the provincial government to show you are eligible to receive free health care in the province. Each eligible person is issued their own card, including children. You will be asked to show a valid OHIP card each time you see a doctor, have a medical test or are treated in the hospital. The unique OHIP number on your card helps staff to ensure your identity.

Your health card expires periodically. There is an expiry date located on the front of your card.

The government of Ontario no longer sends notifications in the mail to remind you to renew your health card. You can sign up for free renewal reminders to let you know when your health card is about to expire. These can be sent by email, text message or a phone call.

Sign up here: Renewal Reminders.

If your health card is invalid or expired, you will still receive urgent care at the hospital, however, you will need to renew your health card. You will have 5 days to contact ServiceOntario to renew your health card. If you do not do so, you will be directly billed for the services you received at the hospital.

If you do not present a valid health card, you may be directly billed for services. The following are some approximate typical costs for uninsured hospital services for an Ontario resident:

Emergency Department visit – $386 + physician fees

MRI – $1498

CT Scan – $1572

Xray – $179

Lab work – $179

Minor procedure at a special clinic – $1385

Inpatient stay (per day) in a 4-person room – $1842 + physician fees

Not providing a valid health card impacts you, the care provider, and the hospital. If you do not have a valid health card, the hospital and care providers will not be able to bill the Ministry of Health for services and tests. As a result, you will receive a bill.

Contact ServiceOntario:

• Visit serviceontario.ca OR
• Call 1-800-267-8097

Your health card number is unique to you and does not change. The hospital requires the updated version code:

When you receive your new version code, please contact Patient Billing at Sault Area Hospital (Monday – Friday, 8:00 am – 4:00 pm):

T: (705) 759-3434 ext. 4420

E: PatientBilling@sah.on.ca