Health Insurers Should Have Medical Liability for Denials

Daniel Paull MD complains about insurance companies not having have any liability when a patient suffers harm as a result of their denials.

From/about the article: Insurance companies not only have no liability, they waste the time of many physicians who have to fight with them to get necessary care and treatments approved. This is unpaid time spent away from seeing patients, on the phone, getting transferred and dropped calls.

Most people would agree that if someone makes a medical decision for a patient, then they should have some liability if that decision violated the standards of care, and caused harm.

Almost all physicians are very careful while creating medical treatments for their patients.

Careful that they are doing the right thing, are not missing anything, and are not causing any significant harm.

Insurance companies get to make medical decisions for their patients with impunity.

They can deny a necessary scan, which was declared necessary by a physician that physical log saw them.

 

“Insurance companies get to make medical decisions for their patients with impunity. They can deny a necessary scan, which was declared necessary by a physician who physical saw them.”

 

If the patient suffers harm because this scan or treatment was denied, the insurers face absolutely no liability.

It looks like this,” We didn’t say they couldn’t get the scan, we just said we wouldn’t pay for it.”

In reality, this does mean that a lot of times the patient really can’t get the scan if insurance doesn’t pay for it.

It’s ridiculous that they don’t have any medical liability in these cases.

Insurance companies not only have no liability, they waste the time of many physicians who have to fight with them to get necessary care and treatments approved.

This is unpaid time spent away from seeing patients, on the phone, getting transferred and dropped calls.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect those of SoMeDocs)

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Daniel Paull MD

Orthopedic Surgeon, Founder CEO Easy Orthopedics

All opinions published on SoMeDocs-Mag are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of SoMeDocs, its staff, or editors. Content on SoMeDocs is intended for informational and storytelling purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment recommendations. Readers should always seek the guidance of their own qualified healthcare professional regarding personal health or medical decisions. SoMeDocs is a magazine built with the safety of free expression and diverse perspectives in mind.

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