Ottawa streamlines UI medical claims

A recent streamlining of the Unemployment Insurance Program means that physicians are no longer required to provide details about the nature of a claimant's illness or injury. "Each local unemployment insurance office, as soon as it is equipped with new automation tools, will be using a computer-generated form that will replace the existing form, Notice Regarding Period of Incapacity [INS 2260]," says Dr. Alex Romaniuk, senior medical adviser with Human Resources Development Canada. With the new form, physicians will simply provide a recovery date for patients receiving UI because of incapacity due to illness or injury.

In cases of incapacity caused by pregnancy, the form asks: "Will the claimant be totally incapable of work from today until delivery?" If not, "what is the earliest date she will be capable of working?" Romaniuk stressed that any charge associated with completion of the forms "is the patient's responsibility." He added that there is no need to "provide any narrative information on the patient's specific medical problem."

| CMAJ March 1, 1996 (vol 154, no 5) |