Free taxpayer-funded prescriptions to children and young adults under 25 will end in March if they have private insurance coverage.The looming change in the OHIP+ pharmacare program, expected to save $250 million a year, was first announced in late June as Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives took power but the time frame for implementation remained a mystery until now.“The government is fixing OHIP+ by focusing benefits on those who need them the most,” said a notice posted online on a government website this week putting the proposal out for public comment until the end of January.Sources said the government hopes to have the necessary systems in place with insurers and pharmacies by late March. Under the new plan, children and young adults will continue to get free prescriptions if they or their parents do not have private health insurance coverage.Otherwise, private insurance plans become the “first payer” for prescription medicines.Read more: Opinion | Martin Regg Cohn: Pharmacare the first casualty of Doug Ford’s hasty hidden agendaHigher drunk driving fines, static minimum wage: These are the changes taking effect in Ontario in 2019Appeal court ends secrecy of payments to Ontario’s top-billing doctorsAt issue is how pharmacists will be able to verify whether customers under 25 have private coverage, or deductibles or co-payments.The Ontario Pharmacists Association said it supports the initiative and is eager to have a smooth, streamlined process to make sure children and young adults get the medicines they need without snags. “There’s still some technical issues and IT system issues to work out,” Allen Malek, the association’s executive vice-president and chief pharmacy officer, told the Star on Friday.At drug stores, pharmacists will ask customers if they have insurance and check their coverage online. But pharmacists are concerned about the complications of performing a “po ...
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