Opinion: Lives hang in the balance as health insurers drag their feet on coverage appeals
For many patients appealing an insurer's decision about health coverage, deferral is essentially denial.
Health insurers in the United States “keep on giving” when it comes to dishing out outrage to Americans who have already been battered by their denials for coverage.
Here’s the latest: Dr. Jay Ken Iinuma, the former medical director of Aetna for Southern California, admitted in a deposition that he routinely did not review patients’ medical records before denying appeals for insurance coverage. The news went viral, as did the news that Aetna defended Iinuma. The story has prompted an by California’s Department of Insurance.
