ALERT: The private insurers are taking over! [View All]

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2011/july/alert-the-private-insurers-are-taking-over

Managed Care Enters The Exam Room As Insurers Buy Doctor Groups

http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2011/July/01/unitedhealth-insurers-buy-doctors-groups.aspx

"Even if UnitedHealth Group isn't your insurance company, there’s a good chance it touches you in some way. The $100 billion behemoth sells technology to hospitals and other insurers, distributes drugs, manages clinical trials and offers continuing medical education, among other things, through the growing web of firms it owns.

Now, that touch could get a lot more personal. United's health services wing is quietly taking control of doctors who treat patients covered by United plans in several areas of the country -- buying medical groups and launching physician management companies, for example.

It's the latest sign that the barrier between companies that provide health coverage and those that actually provide care to patients is crumbling. Other large insurers, including Humana and WellPoint, have announced deals involving doctors in recent months, part of a strategy to curb rising health costs that could cut into profits and to weather new challenges to their business arising from the federal health law. But United is the biggest insurer by revenue, making the trend much more significant.

Many patients insured by these companies are going to see much tighter management of their care.


Comment:
By Don McCanne, MD

http://www.pnhp.org/news/2011/july/alert-the-private-insurers-are-taking-over

"... Think back on how health care reform played out. Hospitals and physicians meekly supported the process mostly out of fear that their lot would be much worse off if they weren't there during the process. But who was placed in control, with representatives actually writing the Affordable Care Act? The insurance industry! Everyone will be required to purchase their products, Medicaid is being converted to managed care organizations, and Medicare Advantage private health plans have been expanding. The private insurers are being given control of much of our national health care spending.

Look what the insurers are doing with that control. In the full version of the article provided at the link above and in many other information resources, you will see that the insurers are very busy trying to buy up enough of the health care delivery system to gain control of the health care markets. They will not only be the money managers for health care, but they will replace the current owners of the health care delivery system. In the worst possible outcome imaginable, they will be the actual providers of our health care!

Karen Ignagni of Americas Health Insurance Plans stated repeatedly during the reform process that the measure must provide effective mechanisms of controlling costs. It doesn't. But now that the insurers are gaining total control, they will be able to bring us cost containment, but on their terms. How? As the CFO of WellPoint states, by owning the delivery system, they will be able to "manage care at the front end." They will use their own doctors to prevent "overuse" and "protect their profits."

..."