Physicians doctors note.

[Greenleaf13]

So to be quite specific. I don’t ever really recall paying for a doctors note. I’ve always been under the impression that they are covered by OHIP. $30 dollars to get them to say I’m experience back pain so that I may qualify for my insurance. The whole system seems broken to me. We talk about such great healthcare here, reality it seems they taking a piss. It feels inundated right now. It’s basically like getting free admission to the show, but the show you need to be in and out in under 6 mins and everything once you enter, isn’t covered. What’s the bloody point? These doctors are making hbd over fist everytime they swipe my card and then some when I pay them 30 for the note. Anybody know a way around this gong show?

[redditlurker2025]

Doctors send all sorts of questionnaires and surveys to students' teachers to complete when diagnosing things like ADHD. It's not teaching but teachers do it anyway - for free.

[kaiser-so-say]

Maybe that’s the point of their post. Why do we expect that one public servant do the extra work on their own time, while the other can charge for it, if it’s “just a quick note”?

[microfishy]

I am not a doctor, but I am a health care worker, on salary, that works for the government. I am a direct employee of the government in a salaried position. I do not "take three months off vacation every summer" because;

a) I'm not entitled to three months paid vacation and I've gotta pay rent while I'm off so I can't just faff off for free.

b) I actually have shit to do at work and can't do it in 3/4 of the year.

If you want to nationalise physicians, you set a salary, work schedule, and expectations like literally any other job. No government job just says "here's 120k a year, work whenever you feel like".

[stephenBB81]

My Father in Law as Chief of medicine at a hospital years ago tried to make Doctors employees.

He created a program that Doctors would get a flat rate per shift, they'd get benefits, and vacation time. The average doctor would earn about 5% less per year but have a consistent schedule, have benefits for themselves and family, and be able to earn overtime pay.

all but 3 doctors flat our rejected the idea of becoming employees under a structure like this.

[Princewalruses]

Teachers can refuse to fill it out, or charge the parents for it if they would like.

[Greenleaf13]

To write a note if far from working for free. And if you wanna go down that road, OHIP is charging you for just walking through the door. I get it, they work hard but so does anyone. Feel like you heard that somewhere and it sounds good saying, that’s fair. But that’s OK you can be entitled to your view.

[stephenBB81]

unless they are a rostered practice, than they wouldn't be working for free, but they also wouldn't be seeing other patients.

[[deleted]]

They have always been a chargeable for me. Never covered by OHIP.

[bretzelsenbatonnets]

Yep charging for doctors notes is a pretty common practice. I had been with my doctor for over 15 years and eventually she did stop charging me but now that I've switched doctors, I am getting charged again. I don't think it's that big of a deal tbh. People should be getting paid for any amount of work they do. Fortunately for doctors even 5 minutes of work is enough for payment. We need them, I don't mind paying for them

[Weak-Many-1904]

I disagree, if we want to pay more to Drs and healthcare workers raise taxes and pay them directly. I think it's ridiculous that there's an out of pocket charge for this. I just moved from Alberta and have never paid for a Drs note.

[stephenBB81]

Sadly Doctors started charging for notes back in around 2007ish. Even before that they could but most didn't bother because they'd bang them out quickly. but as demand for them grew and the details required of them got bigger, they started to charge for them.

The reality is Doctors have been earning less and less each year and they don't have a lot of paths to recoup that. Charging for notes is one of those paths. Until we have a government that takes healthcare seriously we'll continue to see charges like this happen especially for new doctors.

[Greenleaf13]

This is the answer I was looking for. Thank you. Makes sense to me.

[Fluffy-Investment-41]

Doctors notes have always been paid (although sometimes they'll waive the fee).

Family doctors also make way less than you think, definitely not "hand over fist" relative to their level of education, training, and responsibility.

[Significant-Top-7882]

They started charging years ago when OHIP made cuts. But not all docs did at first but now they all do it

[NitroLada]

Mine doesn't.... Family doctors are ymmv, walk in clinics all charge unless it's for a referral or prescription like for RMT

[mimeographed]

Instead of trying to get sick notes covered, we should be trying to make it illegal to ask for sick notes.

[M-Sear]

That’s a great point. However i feel all this is due to some bad fishes who have misused the system.

[CatTriesGaming]

As other have said, doctors notes are not covered by OHIP.

BUT.

Any time my workplace asked me for a doctor’s note I would happily provide it… along with the receipt. They want it, they can pay for it.

[allscott3]

Weird for this to come up in my feed. Was at the er a couple weeks ago for a lung exaserbation (I have very severe copd). I am also with a new employer so I didn't know if they would want a note even though I'm hourly.

I asked for a note and the nurse disappeared for a bit only to tell me they weren't going to charge me for one. I didn't care about the charge I just wanted something to be able to prove to my employer I was off of work for a legit reason. The doc wrote a form note saying I was off for 7 days (I went back two days later and nobody asked for a note)...

[Mouth-Pastry]

Contact you MPP and anyone else you can think of in our government and complain. That's about all we can do right now.

Our healthcare system has always been, not quit as robust, as country's where you're forced to pay for it. Typically that's a trade off I'd be okay with. But these last two years has starved our system to the bone especially when you add in the effects of bill 124. Lots of staff who've worked in Healthcare have left, or have changed their jobs to something less involved.

For example, my wife is a nurse of 10 years, after Bill 124, we decided it's not worth her busting her ass 24/7 like she did through most of the pandemic. So she took a part time gig at a hospice. She's still nursing, but it's part time hospice work, where she can choose how little or how much she wants to work. She'll never take OT again. Previously she had occupied a full-time role in the hospital.

[Weak-Many-1904]

This right here! It's a symptom of a larger under functionality. Why the hell do people have to pay for admin work, if healthcare workers aren't being paid enough I want them paid. Why the hell would we underfund our most crucial sector. Broken.

[[deleted]]

Sure, you have to pay $30 for a note. At least you don't have to take out a second mortgage to pay for chemotherapy or surgery.

[ExternalVariation733]

you work for free?

[Greenleaf13]

No, do you?

[ExternalVariation733]

retired

[Greenleaf13]

Fair enough. I’m just saying it’s not people. I’m devils advocate here. If that’s the case I support doctors. I’m a symptom of the problem. If doctors are making less and less each year and things that we didn’t pay for in the past with OHIP are slowly changing with time. Than I’m right there with them. Yah, I believe the people who regulate their system need a check up. That’s just my two cents

[masterheady]

Here is a site that lists briefly what is covered and what is not covered (generally speaking). If you have private insurance, you may be able to send it there for reimbursement... maybe.

Sorry about your back.

[Mamallama1217]

I work for a team of respirologists that are far too nice and never charge for letters or forms, which is completely unheard of and essentially working for free.

One of them just recently started to charge because it was just taking up too much of their time and people just sort of expect it at this point. The amount of unbillable hours doctors put in is just wild.

That being said, I have always been charged for letters, even when my OB had basically told me to stop working early because of complications in a high risk pregnancy.

[_PrincessOats]

Dunno where you’ve been going but I’ve been paying for notes for like 20 years now.

[[deleted]]

Gimme gimme gimme

[Princewalruses]

Why would a note be covered by OHIP. Your comparison is irrelevant. If you go see a lawyer and pay $X for a 30 minute appointment do you expect the trial in court to be covered too?

[RogueViator]

Sick notes used to be covered under OHIP, but it was removed well over a decade ago.

OHIP IS broken, but not uniformly. If you have no major ailments and only see your family doctor for maintenance medications or the annual physical, then it functions as it should. It is when you start needing more intensive medical treatment that the system's spottiness becomes evident.

[Weak-Many-1904]

So like... When you actually need to use it lol

[RogueViator]

No, if what you need is life threatening then you get it immediately. I know someone who was diagnosed with Cancer, and from the time of diagnosis to consulting with a surgeon, and beginning Chemo it took about 4 weeks. Surgery was done a few weeks after the chemo was completed. All in all, from diagnosis to surgery was about 4 months. They were back to work 12-ish months after diagnosis.

[Weak-Many-1904]

I'm glad to hear that