Anyone wanna pick sides over this and start an argument?
On Aug., 1, 2017, Brittany Cloyd of Frankfort, Kentucky, said she experienced pain "worse than childbirth." Her mother -- who had been to nursing school -- drove her to the nearest emergency room. Brittany thought her appendix had burst, but tests at the ER found she had ovarian cysts. She was given pain medication and told to follow up with her primary doctor.
Cloyd had an Anthem Blue Cross PPO health insurance plan and thought she would get charged just a co-pay for her ER visit. Instead, 15 days later she received a letter from health insurer Anthem. "Your condition does not meet the definition of emergency," read the letter. She was responsible for the total ER bill -- $12,596.
What Brittany endured is becoming more common in the health insurance industry, according to a Doctor Patient Rights Project (DPRP) study. It highlighted Anthem, which through its affiliated networks is the nation's largest private health insurer. The DPRP contends that Anthem has instituted an organized policy of denial designed to make its subscribers -- particularly those who are poor and reside in rural areas -- too afraid to go to an ER for fear of receiving a bill like Cloyd's, or more, for the visit.
"The purpose of this program is to spread fear," said Dr. Ryan Stanton, a critical care and emergency medical specialist in Lexington, Kentucky.
Anthem spokesperson Joyzelle Davis, who said she hadn't seen the study yet, issued an all-purpose response. "Anthem's Emergency Department Review aims to encourage consumers to receive care in the most appropriate setting," Davis said. "Anthem's review [of claims] aims to reduce the trend in recent years of inappropriate use of emergency departments for non-emergency use."
Anthem did not provide specific guidelines for what would be an appropriate visit to an emergency room. But in a letter addressed to companies insured by Anthem and obtained by the DPRP, the insurer made it clear that it didn't want individuals insured by its policies to seek "care right away" at an ER when they could just as easily be treated at a doctor's office or retail health clinic.
According to Anthem, more than a quarter of its subscribers' emergency room visits could be treated elsewhere. "If we could reduce unneeded ER visits, we can cut health care costs by $4.4 billion a year," the letter said. Consequently, Anthem noted, that would cut its member companies' costs by more than a billion dollars.
Read the rest: ttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/anthem-among-health-insurers-refusing-to-pay-er-bills-doctors-say/
On Aug., 1, 2017, Brittany Cloyd of Frankfort, Kentucky, said she experienced pain "worse than childbirth." Her mother -- who had been to nursing school -- drove her to the nearest emergency room. Brittany thought her appendix had burst, but tests at the ER found she had ovarian cysts. She was given pain medication and told to follow up with her primary doctor.
Cloyd had an Anthem Blue Cross PPO health insurance plan and thought she would get charged just a co-pay for her ER visit. Instead, 15 days later she received a letter from health insurer Anthem. "Your condition does not meet the definition of emergency," read the letter. She was responsible for the total ER bill -- $12,596.
What Brittany endured is becoming more common in the health insurance industry, according to a Doctor Patient Rights Project (DPRP) study. It highlighted Anthem, which through its affiliated networks is the nation's largest private health insurer. The DPRP contends that Anthem has instituted an organized policy of denial designed to make its subscribers -- particularly those who are poor and reside in rural areas -- too afraid to go to an ER for fear of receiving a bill like Cloyd's, or more, for the visit.
"The purpose of this program is to spread fear," said Dr. Ryan Stanton, a critical care and emergency medical specialist in Lexington, Kentucky.
Anthem spokesperson Joyzelle Davis, who said she hadn't seen the study yet, issued an all-purpose response. "Anthem's Emergency Department Review aims to encourage consumers to receive care in the most appropriate setting," Davis said. "Anthem's review [of claims] aims to reduce the trend in recent years of inappropriate use of emergency departments for non-emergency use."
Anthem did not provide specific guidelines for what would be an appropriate visit to an emergency room. But in a letter addressed to companies insured by Anthem and obtained by the DPRP, the insurer made it clear that it didn't want individuals insured by its policies to seek "care right away" at an ER when they could just as easily be treated at a doctor's office or retail health clinic.
According to Anthem, more than a quarter of its subscribers' emergency room visits could be treated elsewhere. "If we could reduce unneeded ER visits, we can cut health care costs by $4.4 billion a year," the letter said. Consequently, Anthem noted, that would cut its member companies' costs by more than a billion dollars.
Read the rest: ttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/anthem-among-health-insurers-refusing-to-pay-er-bills-doctors-say/
