Getting between you and your doctor

One of the biggest complaints against health insurance companies is that they deny claims on the basis of cost, rather than medical reasons- that's why we need a public option, healthcare that looks at medical necessities rather than profits. Now someone has published the actual numbers to show the extent of the problem.

Researcher Pat Tuohey has collected the raw numbers from the eight largest healthcare providers, and the results are interesting. The number of denials vary considerably- the average is 4.25% of claims denied, with the low being 2.68% denied (UHC). The second highest denier of claims, Aetna, has a denial rate more than double UHC's- 6.80%.

So if Aetna is second highest, what unfeeling, money-grubbing, profit obsessed healthcare group is the worst? With 6,938,431 claims denied- 6.85% of the total- the prize goes to Medicare. Article with links to the raw data here