The company will not deny care the physician has already given. Some critics also said that the only reason United HealthCare was making this move was because it wants to avoid costly lawsuits for denial of care. Recently, Humana and Aetna have been sued for denying promised coverage to commercial enrollees. While those cases may be difficult for the plaintiffs to win, other developments, such as the battle for a patients' bill of rights in Congress and related fights in state legislatures, appear to health plans to indicate the public's mood. Finally, some consumer groups also suggest that United's move is prompted by little more than the desire to stem costly and image-harming litigation.
Newcomer disputes that, too.
The company began test marketing the new policy, which will affect some 5.3 million of its members in six markets, last year. For all the criticism that United HealthCare's decision has prompted, the American Medical Association has embraced it, if not wholeheartedly, then at least for the time being. It urged other health insurers to follow United HealthCare's lead. Still, in the absence of concrete evidence of how United HealthCare's new policy will actually work, the AMA was careful to say initially it was reacting only to published reports about the action. If you can, I will buy you dinner.