Results of A Texas Physician Survey
Last week's Houston Chronicle has an article reporting the results of a survey of doctors about their experiences with health insurers. The Harris County Medical Society then evaluated the largest six insurers in the Houston area. They wanted to rank them from best to worst but they "all scored so low there was not enough statistical difference to do an actual ranking. They all came in last." Seventy percent of the doctors stated that insurers had wrongfully denied claims for lack of medical necessity. Sixty six percent said they had trouble getting authorization for scans and other imaging studies. Eighty three percent said insurer demands for paperwork requires the physicians to hire one or more extra office workers specifically to deal with filing and billing issues.