Effective June 1, 2010, we will be increasing the price of a select number of our non-insured tests to better reflect the cost of delivering these services.

This represents the first price increases to our non-insured tests in over five years. Over the same period, our operating costs have increased significantly, reflecting increases in the cost of supplies, labour, property leases and gasoline, which are all required so that we may offer patients local access to quality laboratory services and deliver timely test results to physicians.  

The new prices will affect roughly 11 percent of our non-insured tests (tests not covered under the provincial health insurance plan – OHIP). Our non-insured tests represent less than 5 percent of the total number of tests we perform for physicians on behalf of their patients. As a result, we estimate that less than 1 percent of LifeLabs patients will be affected by these price increases.

These changes DO NOT affect the price of our OHIP-covered tests, which represent the vast majority (roughly 95 percent) of tests we provide.

We will be informing our patients of these changes by posting notices at all of our collection centres in Ontario. Our call centre staff will also be available to answer any specific questions from patients related to individual tests.

If you would like to inquire about specific tests or would like to request an updated list of our non-insured tests, please contact our call centre at 416-675-3637 or toll free at 1-800-849-3637.

Sincerely,

Elsa Cabral
Director of Operations, Client Services
LifeLabs Medical Laboratory Services