Insurance company pruning

[Guest guest]

Although I am way behind on chart buffing and billing right

now, I took some time off today to make a positive step toward improving the

quality of my care, and of my life.

I have been intending to dump United HealthCare for a long

time, and today I got fed up enough to do it. I sent an email to

all of my UHC patients and informed them that I would not be a provider next

year, and that they would need to change insurance companies or pay out or

pocket to see me. Then I wrote a letter to UHC notifying them of my

termination of the contact with them. My anniversary date is the end of

July of next year, but, hopefully, my patients will find other insurance or

other providers long before that. Perhaps UHC will even let me out early,

though I will not hold my breath. . .

I also sent a letter to my Cigna patients explaining

that I had not received any response from Cigna about restoring my membership

in the Cigna network, which had terminated without my knowledge over a year ago

when I started my new practice. Because Cigna had told me that

they would restore my membership status, I continued seeing their patients

until recently. I am going to write off about $6,400.00 in charges, which

I really don’t feel I should make the patients pay, since both they and I

thought I was still a Cigna provider, but being free of yet another for-profit

insurance company makes me feel very good.

My patient load has crept up to over 700, and that is just

too many high-risk patients for me to handle in the time I want to spend

practicing. Eliminating UHC and Cigna will drop the number closer to 600, which

is just about right for me.

This is the time of the year that patients have the options

to change insurance companies. I encourage everyone on the list to select

your own two worst insurance companies and dump them now. Be sure to let

the patients know, so those who have options can select a company that you do like.

You will feel good about this. I promise.

(I know, some of you are so advanced that you take no

insurance, and I envy you. I am not there yet, but at least I feel like I

am taking some steps toward getting control over my life.)

dts