Pentagon Blames UnitedHealth for Failures Under Contract
Source: Bloomberg
[B[Pentagon Blames UnitedHealth for Failures Under Contract
By Kathleen Miller
May 03, 2013 12:00 AM EDT
The Pentagon rebuked UnitedHealth (UNH) Group Inc., the nations largest insurer, after military families began experiencing long delays getting medical-care referrals from the company.
The backlogs occurred almost as soon as Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth took over a contract, valued as much as $20.5 billion, from TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. It assumed responsibility on April 1 for the western region of the militarys health-care system, known as Tricare.
UnitedHealths failure to meet contractor requirements has prevented a large number of beneficiaries in one Tricare health plan from obtaining timely access to specialty care, Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said in a memo yesterday to other military leaders.
Woodson, calling the situation extraordinary, said the Pentagon stepped in to grant a temporary waiver so the plans members in the western region could get specialty care without UnitedHealths authorization and not incur penalties.
Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-05-03/pentagon-blames-unitedhealth-for-failures-under-contract.html
Hestia
(3,818 posts)not even the Dept. of Health Flu Vaccine Mass Inoculation Day! I mean really, shorting the Dept of Health? They have denied everything. Thank goodness it wasn't much.
SoapBox
(18,791 posts)not.
burrowowl
(17,652 posts)Monk06
(7,675 posts)system. That's why we have national healthcare in Canada. Insurance companies make money by denying benefits and pocketing the premiums. That is their only business plan.
Laelth
(32,017 posts)Once again, Ronald Reagan was wrong. Whatever government can do, private industry can do it worse and at a much higher price with virtually no accountability.
Great idea! Let's privatize everything!
-Laelth