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10% had trouble getting an appointment to see a doctor
21% had to deal with billing errors
25% had problems with their primary care providers
36% had trouble getting help when they called a plan representative for assistance
insurance
67% Of Consumers Satisfied With Their Health Insurance; Are 67% Of Consumers Drunk?
By 8.9.07
Read Before You Click: Spirit Airlines Signs You Up For Club Membership and Travel Insurance
By 7.31.07
If you buy a ticket on Spirit Airlines’ website, the purchase screen has the nasty habit of prefilling options to buy travel insurance and join the Spirit Airlines fare club. And those fees? Nonrefundable, even if you cancel your membership. How nice.
Yes, You Can Insure Your iPhone Against Accidental Damage And Theft
By 7.28.07
AppleCare’s iPhone coverage is limited to hardware issues and technical support; if you drop your iPhone on the sidewalk, you may be out $600, unless you have insurance against accidental damage and theft.
ER Check-In Via Electronic Kiosk
By 7.19.07
Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas is the nation’s first hospital to have electronic kiosks for ER check-in. The goal is to speed the patient registration process and delivery of care, and reduce costs. Looks like a win-win situation. Just hope it doesn’t go all The Tower on you.
Cuomo Threatens Insurance Company Over Plans To Rank Doctors By Cost
By 7.15.07
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo told UnitedHealthcare to expect a lawsuit if they publish a ranking of doctors based on the cost of care to the insurer. UnitedHealthcare caused a furor in Missouri after introducing a similar ranking scheme in 2005.
Missouri doctors cited numerous objections to the pilot program, which was halted and is being redesigned. For example, most faculty members of the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis were initially excluded from the quality rankings because university-based care is generally more expensive. Doctors in major specialties were ranked by cost alone.
Sicko, For Pets!
By 7.10.07
“I just got off of the phone with the insurance company [VPI Pet Insurance] that covers our puppy. They advertise a broad range of protections for pets and make lots of promises about the great coverage that they offer. They were recommended to us by our vet as one of the most reliable in the field. It seems, though, that they are just as shady and unreliable as so many other insurance companies that we hear horror stories about.”
Four Questions To Ask Before Buying Travel Insurance
By 7.8.07
What Is Already Prepaid Or Nonrefundable? Know what you can realistically expect to get back.
By 7.2.07
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Whether or not you agree with him, you can watch Michael Moore’s documentary Sicko, which explores potential flaws in the American health care system, for free online without downloading anything. [via Stay Free!]
American Medical Association Goes After Walmart-Style Retail Clinics
By 6.27.07
The American Medical Association is going after in-store clinics being opened by retail giants such as Walmart and Walgreens, according to the Chicago Tribune. The AMA is concerned about potential conflicts of interest between the nurse-practitioners who prescribe the drugs and the pharmacists who fill them.
“Our primary focus is patient safety and patient care, and the retail clinics have a different mission of selling products and prescriptions,” said Dr. Rodney Osborn, a Peoria anesthesiologist who is president of the Illinois State Medical Society, an AMA delegation among the most outspoken on scrutiny of retail clinics. “We want these clinics to be accountable.”
The AMA says it will advocate for increased regulation of the retail clinics. The clinics usually operate 7 days a week and do not require an appointment. There is usually no doctor on site. Patients are charged about $60, even without health insurance. Some clinics waive a patient’s copay, in a move that doctor’s say encourages consumers to avoid seeing a physician.
"Transition In Coverage" Was Transition To Insurance Hell For Seizure Patient Running Out Of Pills
By 6.27.07
I recently had a change in health benefits and Pacificare was the provider. I am using the corporate names because it is unconscionable what they have done and I do not wish to protect the guilty. To be brief my wife suffered a stroke 3 years ago and takes seizure medication 5 times daily.
Daughter Stuck with Comatose Mom's Debt?
By 6.8.07
For those of you who enjoyed today’s post on the woman who committed suicide after her husband was threatened with debtor’s prison, here’s another one up your bleak alley.
Like A Good Neighbor, State Farm Wants To Steal Your Money And Send You To Jail
By 6.2.07
Greg writes:
Insurers Cut Out The Middleman, Open Own Repair Shops
By 5.27.07
Insurance companies are opening their own in-house repair shops to avoid haggling with your local mechanic. Local mechanics consistently complain that insurance companies are cheapskates that would rather save a buck than authorize the repairs needed to safely return a car to the road. By opening their own shops, insurers have found the corporate equivalent of sticking your finger in your ear while mouthing “I can’t hear you!”
Rather than putting the onus on customers to find a body shop, get an estimate and arrange a rental car, Progressive, Geico and others are setting up one-stop service centers to handle every aspect of the claim.
Progressive and Geico guarantee their repairs for life, though it’s difficult to trust someone who has a direct interest in keeping the repair bill low. Two customers interviewed by the Times found obvious defects in the insurance companies’ workmanship. Still, the customers left happy, not because their cars worked, but because they were treated well by smiling insurance company representatives. — CAREY GREENBERG-BERGER
Wells Fargo Takes Over Policy, Decides House On Hill Is On A Flood Plain, Automatically Assesses And Withdraws Money For Flood Insurance
By 5.24.07
A reader asks:
Get A C.L.U.E. Report
By 5.23.07
Whoever thought a car crash could affect your house? Even if you weren’t even involved in the car crash?
10 Confessions Of A Progressive Insurance Rep
By 5.22.07
A former Progressive car insurance customer service rep has stepped forward into the light to give us the low-down on how his ex-employer works: [More]
How To Replace Lost Important Documents
By 5.10.07
Lost an important document? Misplaced your birth certificate, driver’s license, passport, social security card, property deed, title insurance policy, mortgage, car title, marriage license, divorce paper, or diploma?
