OHIP Eye Exam ≠ Free Glasses: 5 Counter Scripts for the Ontario Senior Conversation
Run Your Practice · Counter Scripts · 10 min read
OHIP Eye Exam ≠ Free Glasses: 5 Counter Scripts for the Ontario Senior Conversation
Ontario seniors over 65 get OHIP-covered annual eye exams. Many arrive at the dispensary assuming frames and lenses are also covered, they’re not. Mishandling this conversation loses the sale and damages trust. Done well, it converts cleanly. Five tested scripts, with rationale.
Status Full version publishing Q2 2026.
What this script library covers
- What OHIP actually covers (and the misconceptions to gently correct)
- 5 counter scripts for the senior conversation, each with rationale
- How to introduce private supplemental coverage gracefully
- How to talk about prescription sunglasses as a second pair
- What to do when the patient genuinely cannot afford to dispense
Scripts in this library
- Opening the conversation
- Correcting the OHIP misconception (without making them feel wrong)
- Introducing supplemental private coverage
- The second-pair / sun-Rx pivot
- When dispensing is genuinely outside their budget
Official references
An interview with Cleverpays.ca on how independent optical practices should think about POS, integrated payments, Canadian surcharging rules, hardware, and reconciling card settlements against insurance direct billing.
Rishon and Arthur of Talkerstein.com on the realistic web, local-marketing, and automation moves a small independent optical can make to compete with chains and D2C without a big budget.
Input your SKU count, monthly units sold, and average cost of goods. The calculator outputs your turn rate, compares against the Canadian independent benchmark, and identifies the 2-3 moves most...
Input wholesale cost + insurance reimbursement + lab cost. Outputs gross margin per pair, annual unit-margin contribution, and break-even units. The math behind a sustainable Canadian dispensary.
The printable counter chart your dispensing team can use to guide face-shape conversations. Round, oval, square, heart, oblong, and diamond face shapes mapped to frame geometry that flatters each.
The reference guide Canadian dispensers can pull up at the counter mid-conversation. Properties, weight, durability, allergy considerations, price tier logic, and the dispensing tips per material.
Costco Optical undercuts independent dispensary pricing by roughly 25%. Independents can't match the price floor but they don't need to. Positioning, signage, scripts, and service moves that win on value.
A case study from a Newmarket, ON optical that took second-pair capture rate from 14% to 29% in 90 days using a 3-step dispensing script. The script, the rationale, and...
