Mayzoo
Expert
I went with my FIL to a doctor yesterday. It was a pain management doc, first visit, and only to schedule a one time nerve block. I am curious if this is normal/legal:
They insisted they were in network (and they are), yet they stated they would not see him unless he signed an "Out of network patient responsibility form." I let them explain the form to him while I stood there and listened. They tried to convince him that is was only a formality, and that it would not result in any additional charges to him. They told him this was just a form that he had to sign which allowed them to tell him if/when anything they wanted to do fell outside network benefits or if they dropped his insurance they could inform him of that.
After I balked, and explained to them this looked like a standard ABN to me, and told them that if he ever needed treatment that feel outside the network, they could address it at that time and he could sign at that time if he approved.
Ultimately, I would not allow him to sign it, and they saw him anyway, but I am now curious if this is now normal? I know it is not ethical to misrepresent what the form was actually for, and it is his legal responsibility to read it before signing it. It was in the middle of literally 20 forms and 9 places he was supposed to sign and 20 he was supposed to initial, so I am sure many patients just sign it.
They insisted they were in network (and they are), yet they stated they would not see him unless he signed an "Out of network patient responsibility form." I let them explain the form to him while I stood there and listened. They tried to convince him that is was only a formality, and that it would not result in any additional charges to him. They told him this was just a form that he had to sign which allowed them to tell him if/when anything they wanted to do fell outside network benefits or if they dropped his insurance they could inform him of that.
After I balked, and explained to them this looked like a standard ABN to me, and told them that if he ever needed treatment that feel outside the network, they could address it at that time and he could sign at that time if he approved.
Ultimately, I would not allow him to sign it, and they saw him anyway, but I am now curious if this is now normal? I know it is not ethical to misrepresent what the form was actually for, and it is his legal responsibility to read it before signing it. It was in the middle of literally 20 forms and 9 places he was supposed to sign and 20 he was supposed to initial, so I am sure many patients just sign it.