Delays in CPP payments to physicians
CMAJ 2000;162:1277
See response from: K. Bedding
After becoming exasperated by delays in getting paid for work done for the Canada Pension Plan (CPP), I decided to document the next problem I faced. It has taken an average of at least 3 to 4 months to receive payment for completing CPP medical disability forms (fee of $65) and narrative report forms (fee of up to $150).
The case I documented involved a narrative report I completed and forwarded to the CPP in May 1999. It took more than 3 hours to prepare. After 2 months without payment, I began making phone calls, noting the names of the people I spoke with and the times the calls were made. I made 9 calls in all. Despite being assured each time that my enquiry would be passed to the appropriate party and my call returned within a week, I did not receive a single reply.
By now 4 months had elapsed, and my patient had been granted her disability pension. My payment finally arrived in October 1999, after a final call to the CPP's Ottawa office.
I documented this single case because of curiosity about how long payment could be delayed. I now wonder how many other physicians are being similarly inconvenienced, and how many would take the time to make a single phone call, let alone 9 of them.
Have other physicians had the same problem with tardy payments? If there is a problem, pressure should be exerted on CPP administrators to clean up their act.
As well, consideration should be given to special payments when narrative reports take more than an hour to prepare. Limiting payments to $150 puts physicians in a potential conflict-of-interest situation. When long, complex letters are called for, either the physician's time or the patient's interest gets sacrificed.
Ken Richter
Psychiatrist
PrescottRussell Royal Comtois Centre
Hawkesbury, Ont.
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