Charges over and above OHIP

[Anonymous]

My family doctor has referred me to a specialist that charges 500 dollars over and above OHIP. Is this reasonable? Anybody got any thoughts on this?

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[Anonymous]

I didn’t think that doctors who work within the provincial health plan were allowed to charge more

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[Anonymous]

From my understanding, psychiatric testing is not covered by OHIP. Depending on the tests involved, the costs could be well into the thousands. This makes it difficult for those seeking documentation to support accommodation in an academic or occupational setting.

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[Anonymous]

When you have a shortage of physicians who assess and treat ADHD, when you have a huge demand for services, well that equals monopolizing your access and forcing the market to bear the cost. Are the costs justified. NO. Are physicians able to charge outside of a government insurer, YES. Why?

If a physician charges for a service that is not covered by government insurer, the local medical association usually has guidelines on what to charge (e.g. telephone calls, missed appointments). The innovative physician finds new ways to charge like payments for filling out forms and tabulating the results, doing CPT assessments, or having a psychologist to do testing and charging for that service. None of this is illegal. None of this is necessary though the later may be but a physician has a conflict of interest to assign their psychometrist to do the testing because it could be seen as an act of coercion.

The only solution is to get more doctors into the game and to reduce the demand. Ultimately, the market forces push the agenda. Is it fair? Not in Canada but very typical of an American ideal.

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[BuxomDiva]

Michael, is that doctor in Barrie by any chance? I’ve heard horror stories of how much people are paying for comprehensive testing just to get a diagnosis. It’s obscene the way some physicians bilk those in need.

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