Anonymous wrote:Also consider doctor's real income has been declining for 25 years due to Medicare cuts, the cost of medical school leaves them with a $140-200k of student loans (30 year note), taxes and compliance with increasingly complex bueracracy drives up the cost of business, now the recent changes to healthcare going into effect Jan. 1, 2013; this may finally drive doctor's out of private practice altogether. You will then need to go to a large hospital or group practice where you will have to wait to get unpersonalized care costing you more money.

My heart does not bleed for anyof them. Charging a fee for filling out forms is nothing more than gauging patients. To some people $45.00 is not an insignificant amountf money.

Mine didnt charge anything for my Short Term Disability paperwork. So far I havent needed any forms filled out by the pediatrician yet so I dont know if they will charge.

Mine charged $30!!!

I've never had an OB / midwife charge to fill out a form! Mine composed multiple letters for me, in an attempt to make my employer happy..

Also consider doctor's real income has been declining for 25 years due to Medicare cuts, the cost of medical school leaves them with a $140-200k of student loans (30 year note), taxes and compliance with increasingly complex bueracracy drives up the cost of business, now the recent changes to healthcare going into effect Jan. 1, 2013; this may finally drive doctor's out of private practice altogether. You will then need to go to a large hospital or group practice where you will have to wait to get unpersonalized care costing you more money.

OP here - Thanks for the feedback everyone. Seems like a fee is fairly standard for the area, but $45 is by far the most. To the poster that goes to Reiter Hill that is also my OB/GYN. In the grander scheme of things $45 isn't a lot, but for a BASIC form with relatively easy questions that is filled out by admin (simply pointing out Dr. time isn't being used) in mass, I think it's a little excessive. I mean the Dr. spends a total of 5 mins with the patient, I think the least they can do is fill out a form for free. Sorry for the ramble. I'll definitely be switching practices after DS is born and now I know this is a question to ask when searching for a new practice. Once again, thanks for the responses

Yes, mine charged $25. They said it was a one-time fee, so I guess if I had more forms later in the year they would have been free. The pediatrician charges $10 or so if the form is not filled out during an appt. Makes sense, they have to spend their time filling them out.

My OB/GYN charged $25 per set of forms: $25 for my FMLA paperwork, $25 for my husband's FMLA paperwork, $25 for my short-term disability paperwork. And I turned them all in at the same time, too.

GWU didn't charge, but my ped charges $10/form although it seems to TOTALLY depend on the doc.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:with shrinking reimbursements and escalating rent, utilities, insurance, etc, most pediatricians (who take insurance) in DC are lucky to clear 100K/year. Internists do slightly better in this area but the large majority of them make under 150K.

i really find this hard to believe.

this is completely, entirely true. I have medical school friends at many of the local practices. Ever wonder why 9/10 pediatricians and internists in DC don't take insurance?
Reimbursements across states are generally very similar but the costs of doing business here (staff salaries, rents, etc) are much higher than they would be in much of America.

Absolutely not true. Several doctors in my family including 2 pediatricians. Lowest earner makes $200,000 a year.

Anonymous wrote:My pediatrician charges for forms, but my OB didn't charge anything for filling out FMLA paperwork. I think all she had to do ahead of time was a letter with my expected due date. Then I got a resident or med student in the hospital to write down when I actually delivered on a prescription pad. That satisfied my federal HR dept.

Ditto to all this except I didn't even get a note when I actually delivered. After seeing me and charging my insurance company for at least 15 prenatal appointments, the least they could do was fill out a simple form for free. I understand why our ped charges (only $25 BTW) because the forms for daycare/school are a lot more involved.

Mine (reiter hill) charged $45 for the FMLA form and the same again for my short term disability forms. I was appapled, too.

Mine didn't charge and filled it out right there at the appt.

Mine charged I think $20. $45 does seem high.

GWU MFA didn't charge three years ago; I also had them do other paperwork, like a letter for the airline when I flew in my 3rd trimester, and a letter for the court clerk when I was called for jury duty the same week as my due date. No charge for any of it.

But the pediatrician charges $15 for school forms.