doctors charge extra for signing insurance forms?

[Sandra & Evan]

my husband has been working for the same american company in HK for the past 11 years, and luckily they have a good insurance plan. any medical fees we pay are reimbursed by the insurance company, all we have to do is pay the fees first, have the doctor sign the insurance form and mail it in with the receipts. collectively, our family of 4, has seen dozens of doctors in HK these years, and NEVER ONCE have we been charged extra for having the doctor sign our insurance form.

until now. the chiropractor that i saw this afternoon charges HK$200 extra for signing the form. i argued that their list of fees specifies the charges for consultation and xrays, but it doesn't list a fee for insurance forms. also, when i handed the form to the doctor, she did not mention that she would charge me extra for that. it was only at the end of the second treatment, when i asked for the form back, that the receptionist informed me of this charge. she simply would not return the form to me unless i paid the $200.

i'm wondering, have i just been lucky all these years that i've never come across any doctor who charges for that? is this a common practice (which they told me it was)? has anyone else with an insurance plan had this problem before?

thanks!

 

[sky123]

My gyny/ob didn't charge, nor did my baby's ped.

 

[rani]

Only one Dr charged me, but this was years ago. No, its not common at all.

 

[Apteryx]

Mmm, sounds like I might know who you are talking about. Is her office in Central? Near Melbourne Plaza? Of course, I don't want you to 'out' her here on the forum.

 

[Bear Lau]

Never heard that we have to pay for a dr to fill in the insurance form. The government hospitals though charge you for a full medical report.

 

[Bubbly]

Our vet started charging me when we asked her to sign the insurance form for out pet, we argued that the fee itself was around the same as the actual consultation and never were we charged before. THey told us it was a new policy as of last month, my mother spent 3 hours on the phone with them and at the end, they gave in to her and did not charge us!

I think it is the most ridiculous thing to charge people for, all they do is pick up a pen and sign, maybe write a couple of words, not a task that is worth $200 for!