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Keeping the fires lit on issue of prompt payment

AMA Leader Commentary. By D. Ted Lewers, MD. April 2, 2001.

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AMA LEADER COMMENTARY

A few words about current events in medical practice

SEE ARCHIVES

A message to all physicians from D. Ted Lewers, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Every now and then, one of my columns hits a raw nerve with physicians -- and February's column (AMNews, Feb. 5) on prompt payment was one of those columns.

On a single Saturday, I received between 30 and 40 e-mails from physicians nationwide -- as well as from practice managers, office administrators and even consultants. They all told their own version of a too-familiar story: insurance claims that "mysteriously" disappear in the mail, payment appeals that languish for months, and payment systems that, as one respondent put it, "would make Kafka proud."

Some of the physicians who wrote to me were closing or planning to close their practices because of payment problems. One of those physicians -- a solo family physician -- had $100,000 in unpaid claims.

These letters were vivid reminders that much work remains to be done on the prompt-payment front. But they also reaffirmed our decision to take a strong stand on this issue. In fact, the letters I received were overwhelmingly positive about the work the AMA and the Federation are doing together to ensure prompt payment of claims.

These letters made it clear that the AMA, along with state and county medical associations, must continue their efforts to get prompt-payment laws and regulations in every state, until every physician in America is protected.

These letters also made it clear that together we must work to strengthen existing laws and regulations, close loopholes, provide continued monitoring of insurers -- and increase penalties, so that the laws and regulations truly "have teeth." [...]