Health care in the U.S.A. is more expensive and less efficient than in most other industrialized countries in the world. I received a letter from my health insurance provider the other day that explains part of the reason. The subject of the missive was “subrogation.” They wanted to know if several of my recent visits for care might have been due to negligence of businesses or other people so that the insurance company could sue those institutions or people to cover the costs for my medical care.
Insurance companies have cadres of accountants and legal professionals ready and willing to “cut my costs.” Paying for this information is part of the cost of my medical care. This amounts to accountants and lawyers practicing medicine.
The letter stated that all insurance companies obtain and use this type of data. I am sure that they do. I am also sure that this contributes to the high cost of health care. I also believe that this negatively affects the quality of health care here in the U.S.A. Medical providers spend many hours learning ever changing billing coding numbers to capture this type of information. I would prefer that medical providers were keeping up on medical advances rather than staying current on billing numbers.
We really need a single-payer health care system that covers everyone and includes comprehensive longitudinal medical records.
Wayne Wilson, West Jordan
from The Salt Lake Tribune https://ift.tt/VQzqbCj
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