Medical Money Grabs
// August 26th, 2007 // 5 Comments » // Just Stuff
The other day my honey got a letter from his [tag]doctor[/tag], [tag]Dr. Carl Sullovey[/tag], explaining that for his “peace of mind” (and to defray administrative costs), the doctor was making [tag]Block Fees[/tag] available to his patients so they could pay one annual fee to the doctor for all those services that weren’t covered by [tag]OHIP[/tag].
When he gave me the letter to read, I was disgusted. In essence the doctor was telling his patients that they could pay an [tag]annual fee[/tag] to cover MOST [tag]uninsured services[/tag] like telephone advice, lab results over the phone, telephone prescription renewals, all for just $75/year for single coverage.
What really irked me about the above services, is that the condition: WHEN UNAVOIDABLE, was included. So, you can’t just call up the doctor’s office and get your lab results or talk to the doctor unless that’s unavoidable, otherwise you’ll be charged for the service. You’re supposed to pay an extra $75 a year to this guy but you can’t just call up to find out your test results because that’s avoidable.
My doctor usually gets around all that telephone charging by making you come in for another chargeable appointment to tell you the results of your tests.
The letter goes on to say that other things are not included in your block fee and that you will be charged individually for them, things such as third-party physical examinations which can run anywhere from $30 to $150. I was living under the misconception that a medical exam was a service provided by doctors and something they would bill OHIP for. Obviously I was wrong since Dr. Sullovey tells us that there are these fees for medical exams.
There is also a $20-$50 missed appointment fee if you don’t cancel an appointment with 24 hours’ notice. I know that this crap has been going on for years but I can honestly tell you that if someone misses an appointment with me, I don’t get to charge them for that time, so I’ve never really understood why these medical practitioners think they have the right to do that.
I suppose the most galling aspect of this letter to me was the wording, where he stipulates that this is “to provide peace of mind to you, and to assist me in minimizing the administrative costs of billing each service individually”. He says that this method of paying a block fee “appears to be preferred by many of my patients, as well as my Physicial colleagues, who have been charging this fee for many years”.
I would assume his administrative staff are paid on salary and there are no additional costs to have them bill for your doctor’s note or to send the doctor’s bill to OHIP – that’s what they’re there for. And I don’t like the way he makes it seem that all the other doctors are doing this – for many years – and it is preferred by his other patients. I’m sure some poor old senior will get sucked in by that wording and, of course, will want the “peace of mind” that paying extra brings.
I’ve got it… why don’t we all just start tipping the doctors when we go in? Hey, doc, how much are you billing OHIP for this service? Ok, then, 15% of that would be….
Are these doctors not making enough money? I know they’re making a helluva lot more than I do, and yet with the inflation rate, my salary has not increased significantly in years, but I’m expected to pay more and more for services because of others’ greed.
Perhaps I should restructure my billing practices. Phone calls are extra, responding to emails extra. You can come to see me and that will be included in the price, just for your peace of mind.
