Comments on: Health Insurance Companies Take Advantage of Doctors

By: Citizen Economists » Reforming Healthcare & Taking On Big Pharma: An E-Interview & Reader Q&A with S.J. Robinson

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:36:52 +0000

[...] class-action lawsuits by providers against insurance companies are a good solution to balance the inequity of power insurance companies wield in the current healthcare climate? Or does this merely clog the judicial system and become a [...]

By: Amateur Economists » Health Insurance Companies Take Advantage of Doctors, Part IV

Fri, 10 Oct 2008 21:01:03 +0000

[...] = 250; sr_adspace_type = “graphic”; sr_ad_new_window = true; I previously posted about insurance companies and the EOB. I’ve been thinking more and more about this issue and have come to the [...]

By: Amateur Economists » Health Insurance Companies Take Advantage of Doctors, Part II

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:01:47 +0000

[...] Take Advantage of Doctors, Part II October 1, 2008 by J.C. I’ve posted previously on how tough insurance companies can make it for doctors to collect their payments. Those of you in the profession know what I am talking about and are probably familiar with the [...]

By: JunkMD

JunkMD — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 01:29:42 +0000

In response to the first comment, that may technically be true but it is not realistically true. The system that has been created has the physician held hostage. Sure, the doc can refuse to sign a contract with Medicare or Blue Cross, the 800 pound gorillas. But if you are primary care doc and you do this, you just lost better than 80% of potential patients. And, although a cash or retainer system is much better, until the physician can build a patient base, he or she will have to get a job doing something else because the practice will go bankrupt. However, like I said, you are technically correct. The emergence of retainer medicine is a classic example of your statement and it would be a much better system. However, it takes a large patient base to develop enough relationships with patients that 300-500 of them would be willing to ante up $1000+ per year to see the doc.

By: forHealth

forHealth — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 13:26:08 +0000

Doctor’s do have more power than the insurance companies. They don’t have to sign those insurance contracts. Instead they can receive payment directly from the patients.