Short answer: Telemedicine visit is more cost-saving (often with discounts), fast, convenient, and safe.  

When getting a medical marijuana card today, you have the choice of seeing a doctor in person at a physical office for your medical marijuana evaluation and recommendation or use telemedicine to do so. The differences are many, most especially perhaps being cost.

Physical Office vs. Telemedicine

In the recent past, you only had one option for getting the doctor’s recommendation you needed to get your Ohio MMJ card: by going to a doctor’s physical office for an in-person examination. In light of COVID-19, however, as of March, 2020, the State of Ohio Board of Pharmacy officially started allowing CTR (certified to recommend) physicians to conduct MMJ evaluations using telemedicine. Giving patients this choice raises the question: “Which is better?” or “Which is better for me?”

Cost

By using telemedicine instead of visiting the doctor in person, you can save a lot of money on your Ohio MMJ card. Because the overhead of a telemedicine operation is far less than that of maintaining a physical office, telemedicine providers like MMJCard4Less can then pass those savings onto you, the patient.

Compare the costs of getting your Ohio medical marijuana card by using the services of MMJCard4Less to those of visiting a doctor in person at his or her physical office.

At MMJCard4Less, it costs $99 for a telemedicine call with a licensed and CTR Ohio physician. Assuming the physician approves you for medical marijuana, he or she will then submit your recommendation to the Ohio Board of Pharmacy so you can complete your application and get your card. It’s as easy–and cheap–as that! Plus, you get support and assistance for one year. Every one-year renewal costs the same $99.

By contrast, other CTR doctors in Ohio who conduct only in-person appointments at their physical office are charging from $150 to $225 or more for an initial visit and $100 to $200 for each renewal.

Read more: On Compare Prices Page you will find the pricing of many other medical marijuana Ohio doctors, so you can compare and see how much more affordable the doctors are at MMJcard4less.

Discounts

MMJCard4Less also offers discounts for qualifying patients, which is something a typical doctor’s office will not likely offer for an in-person visit for an MMJ evaluation and recommendation. To qualify for a discounted price of $89 for one year, you need to be either a veteran or active member of the military, older than 60 or have an income below the poverty level. If you qualify under one of these criteria, all you need to present to prove it and receive the discount is either a:

  • Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) approval letter
  • Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) card with your name printed in the front
  • Military or government-issued proof of veteran status
  • Government-issued photo ID showing by your birthdate that you are over 60 years of age

Uploading this information to MMJCard4Less is as easy as can be, with simple prompts guiding you through each step of the way.

Read also: Everything You Need To Know About MMJ Card Renewal in Ohio

Insurance

Another factor affecting the cost of your MMJ doctor’s visit is medical insurance, or a lack thereof. If you don’t have health care insurance, a telemedicine appointment is usually, if not always, much cheaper than an in-person doctor’s appointment in a physical office. Even if you do have health insurance, however, there’s a good chance your doctor will not accept it for an in-person MMJ evaluation.

Extent of Examination Required or Desired

Visiting a doctor in person in a physical office has the potential advantage of a more thorough examination. This might be appropriate if you haven’t yet been diagnosed with the qualifying condition you’re citing as your reason for using medical marijuana and that condition requires a physical examination to diagnose. For other conditions, such as psychiatric ones like PTSD, telemedicine is more than suitable.

Health and Safety

Another key reason why you may prefer a telemedicine MMJ evaluation, especially while the COVID-19 pandemic is in effect, is for your own personal health and safety. Attending an in-person doctor’s appointment in a physical office involves leaving your home, traveling to an office and encountering many people along the way, from other patients in the waiting room to receptionists and medical assistants to people in the parking lot, each of whom carries the risk of transmitting the coronavirus to you.

Convenience

Besides the obvious convenience of allowing you to conduct your MMJ appointment at home rather than go out to a doctor’s office, there are other conveniences to a telemedicine MMJ visit over an in-person one. Key among them is that everything is handled for you in a matter of mouse clicks:

  • Setting up your visit
  • Seeing the doctor
  • Setting up your profile on the Ohio Medical Marijuana Control Program (OMMCP) Patient and Caregiver Registry
  • Receiving confirmation the doctor has submitted your recommendation to the OMMCP Electronic Verification System (EVS)
  • Completing your profile, paying the fee and receiving your card

No fuss, no muss!

And if you do this through MMJCard4Less.com, it’s even more convenient. Right from their web-based app, they collect all the necessary info, take screenshots of required documents (like your photo ID) and match you up with a doctor.

Read more: How to get a medical marijuana card in Ohio (the full list of requirements and qualifying conditions). 

CTR Doctors

One other convenient aspect of using a telemedicine service like MMJCard4Less to get your Ohio medical marijuana card is that you don’t have to find out if your existing doctor is CTR or else, if you don’t have a doctor that’s CTR or is unable to do so or unwilling to recommend medical marijuana for you, locate one near year who is CTR and set up an appointment as a new patient.

When you sign up with MMJCard4Less, however, you’ll automatically be connected with a doctor who is qualified to recommend medical marijuana for you, including holding an active and valid Ohio medical license and CTR status.

Medical Records

If you don’t have medical records, you can ask your existing doctor for them, or you can use MMJCard4Less, where you don’t even need medical records to get your recommendation.

Our site will help you quickly connect with the best certified doctor in Ohio, who will give you detailed advice, as well as help you understand if you can apply for a medical card. Book your appointment online now and get all the information you need.