It was refreshing to hear some Louisiana doctors going public with their anger over dealing with insurance companies. Dr. A.J. Delahoussaye said the real problems caused by insurance companies delaying or denying valid claims must come to an end. He expressed his frustrations over the rising cost of medical insurance, the growing shortage of doctors and the insurance companies’ role in the crisis. He feels the main job of an insurer is to deny health care.
Doctors who are on the front line of the health care crisis are tired of fighting with insurers who have employees referred to as “blockers” whose jobs exist solely to deny, defer or obstruct paying benefits for services clearly covered by the patient’s policy. Doctors are too often having to employ extra personnel just to deal with the insurers and help the patients understand their medical insurance coverage.
Doctors may differ on the various proposals including a public option, but many agree that the country desperately needs significant health care reform. Doctors fed up with insurance delays and red tape are leaving the profession. By 2025, according to an AMA study, the country will be short about 124,000 doctors if current trends continue. Add that issue to the growing number of uninsured patients we have now and the crisis currently affecting all of us is only going to get worse.
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
