PCP Charging for Letter of Medical necessity?

I have a friend who's PCP is charging $50.00 for the letter of Medical Necessity. Anyone encountered this problem? I advised her to call her insurance company to see if the PCP can do this under the contract. Any other ideas? Thanks, Mary

I'd go to a different PCP...

Hi Mary, My PCP charges too. She says it depends on the complexity of the letter. She wrote me a brief one when I switched over to her and didn't charge me for it. I kind of wish she had because it was riddled with misspellings. Her office claims that the administrative costs have gone up due to all the requests for letters and records. Since the administrative costs aren't covered by insurance they are now pushing the cost off on patients (what's new!). If I hadn't already started my 6 mo. supervised with her, I would switch PCP's. Although, I would suspect that since some PCP's are starting to charge, that many will follow. Take care, Sandi

Hi Mary! Unfortunately, yes... I have heard of this and have been charged. My doctor's office charges $25.00 for FMLA paperwork. It is not my PCP's her rule, but her bosses. When she had her own practice she did not charge for paperwork, but most offices now charge for doing paperwork such as FMLA, referrals, Letter of Medical Necessity, etc. Even thou the office staff can add this charge into the office visit and change the code, they don't. Alot of people at my job were so upset with HR because they require a FMLA certification for each injury/illness and it was costing some employees alot of money to get recertified every 6 months, costs add up pretty quick. I think its messed up myself, but sometimes changing PCP when you have been with that doc for so long is not an option. ~Nicole

My PCP is an Internal Medicine Specialist and he charges $50.00 per letter but if it's something the insurance is requiring, you can ask them to pay the cost. I have and they did pay for the letters.