AMA: Insurers Reduce Payment Errors
At its annual meeting in Chicago, the American Medical Association issued a report card for insurers, giving the industry high marks for cutting in half the number of medical claims that were incorrectly paid.
Chicago Sun-Times: Incorrectly Paid Medical Claims Decline, AMA Study Finds
The number of medical claims that were incorrectly paid out by insurers was cut in half this year compared to last year, saving about $8 billion in costs due to unnecessary administrative work, the American Medical Association said. The data comes from the AMA's National Health Insurer Report Card, which was presented at the association's annual meeting in Chicago. Large insurers, such as Aetna Inc. and Chicago-based Health Care Service Corp., incorrectly processed 9.5 percent of claims in the beginning of 2012, compared to 19 percent last year, according to the report card (Thomas, 6/18).
Medpage Today: Insurers Get High Grades From AMA
Commercial insurers incorrectly processed about one in 10 claims in the early part of 2012, which is a major improvement over error rates from last year, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). The finding comes from the AMA's fifth annual National Health Insurer Report Card, which was released at the AMA's annual house of delegates meeting here. The report concludes that insurers incorrectly processed, or paid the wrong amount, for about 9.5% of all claims. Last year's report card found an error rate of 19% (Walker, 6/18).
In other news from the AMA meeting -
Politico Pro: AMA Compromises On Premium Support
The AMA, skirting an uncomfortable election-year fight on Medicare premium support, is expected to vote this week on studying the controversial proposal and to come back to it after the Nov. 6 elections. A stronger proposal backing a version of premium support — similar but not necessarily identical to the proposal from House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) — was pulled last week before the meeting began. The issue re-emerged over the weekend when Louisiana and Alabama doctors tacked a last-minute resolution onto the agenda of the group’s annual meeting underway in Chicago (Cheney, 6/18).
Medpage Today: Docs Say Soda Tax May Be Option
Soda is a four-letter word in every sense to many health advocates concerned with the obesity epidemic, a sentiment that permeated testimony about a proposal to tax soda and other sugared drinks. At issue is a report from the American Medical Association's Council on Science and Public Health, which stopped short of endorsing a soda tax, but does open the door to the possibility of such a tax by conceding that it is an option worth investigating. Specifically, the report recommends considering taxing beverages with added sweeteners as "one means by which consumer education campaigns and other obesity-related programs could be financed." The group already has policies supporting taxes on alcohol and tobacco products (Walker, 6/18).