Health insurance program aimed at efficiency brings confusion, outrage

[Rose Siding]

A health insurance program intended to steer autoworkers and their families to the highest quality and most efficient doctors is being met with a mix of confusion and outrage from patients and providers.

Disgruntled patients claim the UnitedHealth Performance program launched Feb. 1 at General Motors Corp.'s Wentzville plant severs long-standing relationships with trusted physicians. Physicians say they were blindsided by the program, which recognizes fewer than one in three doctors in the broad UnitedHealthcare network as high quality, efficient providers.

United's performance program is being piloted here and in 12 other states......

United's performance program and parallel initiatives by other large carriers are a response to employers frustrated over the inconsistent quality of American health care in the face of rapidly rising health care costs. Employers are looking for ways to use their buying clout to drive improvements in performance and efficiency. If successful at reducing variations in treatment quality and costs, such initiatives hold the promise of slowing cost increases and saving lives. In that regard, the GM pilot program may be a prototype in employment-based health care benefit design.

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/business/stories.nsf/story/7D366D7A68806DC186256FA600373255?OpenDocument&Headline=Health+insurance+program+aimed+at+efficiency+brings+confusio

[Cocoa]

1. something tells me...

that "high quality and efficiency" is a euphemism for "cheap."

[Warpy]

2. "efficiency" sure as hell is

it denotes health providers who are willing to see more patients for the same amount of money as providers who sit and listen.

You know, guys who order tests, read them, and think they know what's going on. Those guys are scary.

[liberalhistorian]

3. It also denotes

those who are extremely willing to be beholden to drug companies and insurance companies at the expense of the health and well-being of their "patients", those who put big business over health first.