Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri signed prompt-pay legislation into law that gives insurers 45 days to pay insurance claims and prevents them from suspending claims that they have neither approved nor denied. The new legislation imposes new financial penalties of 1 % of the claim per day on insurance companies that wait too long to pay claims. This issue had been debated in the Missouri legislature previously without success but after a published report showing there were more than $500 million in outstanding claims at 69 Missouri hospitals, recalcitrant Republicans joined in support of what Nixon described as “good, solid reform”.
The report by the Missouri Department of Insurance indicated that as many as 70% of claims remained unpaid after 90 days in many parts of the state, with rural areas facing the most significant delays. Rep. Tim Jones (D) who sponsored the prompt pay legislation, praised the health care providers and his Republican colleagues who joined him in working together on the bill.
Anyone who has experienced the frustration of having endless delays and excuses by insurance companies in failing to pay legitimate claims timely should be cheered by this result in Missouri and support similar legislation in their own state. For too long insurers have held the American public hostage with red tape, bureaucratic unintelligible policy language and endless delays in payment all the while raking in millions of dollars in profits. Kudos to Gov. Nixon and the Missouri legislature for their courage and leadership on this issue!
Richard J. Arsenault, 2011
