Passport guarantors: if you sign, do not bill CMAJ 1997;157:631 Now that physicians are charging patients for a wide range of "noninsured" medical services, it isn't surprising that some areas of confusion are developing. A good example involves patients' requests for a doctor to act as guarantor for a passport application. Every application must be signed by a guarantor, who must be a professional such as a physician, lawyer or minister who has known the applicant for at least 2 years. One of the caveats is that the guarantor cannot receive any form of compensation. If they do accept payment the application becomes invalid and the applicant will be ordered to submit a new form signed by a different guarantor. Passport officials are rigid on this policy -- they say the rule is designed to ensure that unscrupulous people will not be encouraged to act as a guarantor simply for the fee involved. Although charging a patient for this service will not land a physician in court, this kind of misunderstanding can result in a potentially embarrassing and time-consuming problem for applicants, who will often request that their payment be returned. (This has already happened in Nova Scotia.) The headaches involved are a substantial nuisance and physicians could avoid them by not charging for this service. -- © Dorothy Grant, coordinator, patient­physician relations, Medical Society of Nova Scotia Send a letter to the editor responding to this article Envoyez une lettre à la rédaction au sujet de cet article | CMAJ September 15, 1997 (vol 157, no 6) / JAMC le 15 septembre 1997 (vol 157, no 6) |