Medical Certificate
Does NOT waive entire bill & may be unavailable in the future if no payments are made between one Medical Certificate and the next need; LET PATIENTS KNOW
If the patient has an urgent medical need, the physician can complete a letter with the following information, or use the Medical Certificate form available in the clinic:
Account Holder's Name
Contact Number for Account Holder
Current Date
Name of Patient
Account number or address on account
Statement indicating patient is resident of address on account
Statement that if power is shut off, patient's medical condition will be aggravated (Doctor's actual signature with "MD" or "DO" at the end of signature)
The letter can then be faxed to the utility company
For ComEd: Fax letter to 630-684-2692, ATTN: Supervisor
For People's Gas: Fax the Medical Certificate to 312-240-7343, ATTN: Contact Center
For Nicor: Fax the Medical Certificate form to 630-428-4510
Different companies have different time frames for how long service will continue.
ComEd: Allows letter to be in effect for three months, at which time they will require a new letter
People's Gas Medical Certificate Program: Will not discontinue service for 30 days from certification, can renew once for 30 more days by providing second certificate, and after 60 days, account is ineligible for additional medical certificates for one year from date of the original certification
Nicor: Allows letter to be in effect for three months, but only accepts one letter per year
Additional details
Where medical equipment requires electricity to function, or medical equipment is causing high electric bills: ComEd has been slow to turn off the power and may respond more to letters specifically stating the medical equipment need rather than the initial, more vague "will aggravate medical condition" statement, but instances of these exceptions are decreasing and families should always be advised that they should make some payment on their bill every month to leave these options open.