www.hmocrisis.com                                                                                                    May 31, 2002
 
Newsroom   |   Events Calendar   |   Contact Us   |   HMO Crisis Home   |   Archie Lamb.Com
May 31, 2002-California Department of Managed Care Strengthens Prompt Pay Rules.

 
The Los Angeles Times has reported that California officials are seeking to promulgate and enforce the nations strongest HMO and health insurer prompt pay regulations. The new rules, which will be in place within the next few months, are aimed at forcing HMO’s to make payments to doctors and health care facilities in a timely manner. An important feature of the regulations will make it difficult for HMO’s to bounce back claims for additional information, a common tactic used by insurers to deny and extend payment past the current 45-day payment requirements. “Too often they don't pay doctors on time, and that has an effect on patient care," noted Daniel Zingale, director of the Department of Managed Health Care, the California agency responsible for the regulations. The rules will also require insurers to disclose information concerning payment schedules as well as bundling of claims. National HMO associations deny there is a need for such rules and regulations. For a more complete look at the issue please see the Los Angeles Times article at www.latimes.com. To see what other state regulatory agencies are doing see the “Newsletter Archives” at HMOcrisis.com as well as www.tdi.state.tx.us and www.texmed.org.
 
 
May 31, 2002-Kaiser Family Foundation Survey Addresses Physician Job Satisfaction.

A recent American Medical News article reviews the Kaiser survey and indicates that physician job dissatisfaction is often linked to problems with managed care plans. In fact, three of four doctors in the survey of over 2,600 agreed that, managed care has a negative impact on their practice of medicine. "Since managed care has become a part of our health system, physicians see it as having negative influences," said Mollyann Brodie, PhD, the Kaiser foundation's vice president for public opinion and media research. The article also provides specific doctor experiences from a variety of specialty areas. Tampa, FL family physician Dr. David Lubin summed up the feelings of many medical professionals when he noted in referring to his profession "Although the insurance companies make it difficult at times, that's what I've been trained to do." For the complete article and additional details concerning the survey and related surveys please go to www.ama-assn.org.

 
 
Newsroom   |   Events Calendar   |   Contact Us   |   HMO Crisis Home   |   Archie Lamb.Com
To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send us an email HERE.