When they’re threatened with physicians dropping out of their network, they simply pass the buck to patients:
St. Joseph Health Services is a Catholic nonprofit that cares for many poor people in Rhode Island. Last year, UnitedHealthcare of New England tried to cut the hospital group from its provider network. The reason? After years of seeing little or no increases in payments for services, St. Joseph had demanded that the insurer raise its reimbursement levels.UnitedHealthcare played hardball. It proceeded to threaten its customers with a huge 58-percent compounded hike in premiums if it had to start writing bigger checks to St. Joseph.
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{ 3 comments }
In any other industry, this would be a gross violation of anti-trust law. The federal government and civil courts would be all over this extortion. I believe this abuse is however protected under ERISA law, with no legal remedies.
Ed Sodaro MD
It would appear that Congress has written laws that allow the insurance companies free rein to squeeze hospitals and doctors and does the same with Medicare reimbursements. Probably hoping that eventually, everyone will demand government health insurance for all, requiring vast tax hikes and revenues, which would put the pols and their paid bureaucrat lackeys in the cat-bird seat.
Wow…and United Health is set to essentially rule medicine in all of Southern Nevada, once its purchase of Sierra Helath is complete.
Scary for docs in Las Vegas, let me tell you.
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