EP 972 Medical Insurance Claims Are Being Denied at Astounding Rates–and With a Human Toll

 Deborah Schwartz, a healthcare attorney, saw how medical insurance companies put profit over patient and the impacts it had.  While inside the health insurance industry, she tried to change the practices she saw which were antithetical to better health outcomes, but since leaving the field, she’s writing about in her new novel, “EmmaCare” and sounding the alarm about what she saw.  By whatever measure, claim denials, coupled with prior authorizations and other practices, are growing and put the onus on the patient to fight for and appeal judgments from the insurers even when their doctor prescribes various drugs and procedures.  It’s a maze that leads to financial strain and bankruptcy, delayed or denied care and mental and emotional stress.  We all know that our health care system is broken.  These practices are chief among the issues, though there are many more.  So, what can we do?  Aside from a universal health care model which is unlikely in this country at this time, how do we proceed?  We’ll discuss on this podcast.

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