What OHIP does not cover
The Ontario Health Insurance Plan covers medically necessary assessment and treatment. It does not cover services requested for administrative, legal, employment or cosmetic reasons. Physicians in Ontario are permitted to charge for these uninsured services, and the fee must be made known to the patient before the service is provided.
Uninsured services at DermCare
Third party and insurance forms
Completion of forms requested by an insurer, employer, school, government program or other third party is not an insured service. This includes disability and travel insurance forms, drug coverage attestations requested by a private insurer, and forms for employment or educational purposes. Applications to the Ontario Exceptional Access Program for medically necessary drugs are part of insured care and are not charged.
Medical notes and letters
Notes for work, school or other purposes, and letters written at the request of a patient rather than as part of communication between physicians, are uninsured. Consultation reports and correspondence with your referring physician are part of insured care and are never charged.
Cosmetic removal of benign lesions
Removal of a benign lesion for appearance alone, such as a harmless mole, skin tag, seborrhoeic keratosis or cherry angioma, is not covered by OHIP. Where a lesion is suspicious, bleeding, painful, repeatedly irritated or interfering with function, assessment and treatment are insured. The dermatologist decides which applies after examining the lesion, and the fee is explained and agreed before any cosmetic removal is done. See skin surgery and biopsy for what the procedures involve.
Transfer of records
Copies of records requested by a patient or a third party, other than for continuing care between physicians, may carry a fee.
Services being considered
Mole mapping and total body imaging as a named private service are being confirmed and are not currently offered. Whether and how they will be provided will be published here once decided.
How fees are set
Fees for uninsured services at DermCare follow the Ontario Medical Association's published guidance on uninsured services. Current pricing is available from the clinic. Call 905 625 5600 or ask at the front desk. You will be told the fee before any uninsured service is provided, and you are free to decline.
This does not affect your medical care
Referral based assessment and treatment at DermCare are covered by OHIP. Patients are never asked to pay for an insured service, and no patient is refused or delayed insured care because they have declined an uninsured one. If you are ever unsure whether something you have been asked to pay for is insured, ask us.
For referring physicians
Referrals are accepted for medical dermatology. Please note that a request for cosmetic removal of a benign lesion is not a reason for referral and will be handled as an uninsured service if the patient wishes to proceed. Where you are uncertain whether a lesion is benign, refer it as a lesion for assessment. How to refer.