Requesting a doctors letter...

[Xiaoli]

I called my doctors office and asked the assistant to have my doctor write me a letter stating that I was a past patient of his (I was his patient 2 years ago) and also stating in the letter the medications he had prescribed me. No one mentioned any thing about a fee payment for getting this letter. When they told me my letter was ready I went and picked it up. It only said that I was a patient of his and that he has not seen me since September 2008. The letter did not include everything I need. I took the letter anyways and again no one mentioned a word about a fee for the letter. Few days later I got a bill statement in the mail. They're billing me for a letter that only has 3 sentences written in it. Can they bill me when they did not mention anything about a fee before? If I knew I was going to be billed for getting a letter I would have never wanted a letter in the first place. Also, after the doctor had written the letter..the nurse told me I could get a print out of my prescriptions from my pharmacy. I went to my pharmacy and got the documentations without having to pay anything. I should have just gone to the pharmacy in the first place.

[Xiaoli]

Thanks for the advice.

I spoke with them and they're still charging me the whole fee though :(

[heyjude1]

I suppose they can charge you but  I would call them and discuss that a fee was never brought to your attention and the letter did not include the medical information that you requested.  I would also tell them that you were being charged for a service that you did not receive because someone in the office did not want to take the time to list your prescribed medications listed in your file and you had to go out of your way to get the pharmacy to supply the information that you are being charged for...That would really  **** me off.  actually, it does **** me off.

If they will not eliminate he charge, I would suggest you ask them to bill you half price since they only provided half the service you are paying for.
It's obvious that doc is definitely in it for the money.