More Physician Societies Join the Call for Payer Transparency
In a press release, Paul Kivela, M.D., FACEP, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) said, “Emergency physicians believe that it is the insurers’ responsibility to provide clear information about medical costs upfront to patients…While providers and hospitals may be able to provide raw prices to patients, without accompanying information from insurers, little can actually be achieved in the form of true transparency for the patients.”
Dr. Kivela also asserted that doctors do not want to put patients in the position where they have to make life and death decisions based on the cost of care. He added, “Health insurance companies have a long history of denying coverage for emergency care…No insurance policy is affordable if it abandons you in an emergency.”
Andrea Brault, M.D., MMM, FACEP, Chair of the Board for EDMPA, chimed in, “The Emergency Department Practice Management Association (EDMPA) has been working with many other specialties to make sure patients can access information on their health care coverage and are not surprised by a gap in their insurance…We want to ensure that health insurance companies pay the usual, customary, and reasonable rate for out-of-network care before asking patients to cover the rest of the bill.”
