Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Let’s say you go to an in-network provider. If you have fairly generous health insurance (i.e., not a high-deductible health plan), one would expect the cost sharing to be fairly modest. That is not always the case. You may be charged out-of-network cost sharing rates through no fault of your own. In a report by…
According to a recent paper by Kyanko, Curry and Busch (2003), 8 percent of insured individuals used an out-of-network physician. Why are people using out-of-network services? The authors give the following breakdown. Approximately 40 percent of individuals using out-of-network physicians experienced involuntary out-of-network care. Whereas fifteen percent of outpatient out-of-network contacts were involuntary, almost 60…
Marketplace reports that UnitedHealth Group has just reached a large settlement with the State of New York. What did UnitedHealth Group do wrong? According to the State of New York, it was overcharging patients who went out of the network. The N.Y. Times gives a good example: “The patient might receive a doctor’s bill for $100,…