A three-part series of articles on the nation’s health insurance crisis in The Los Angeles Times concluded on Thursday, October 23, with a look at the relationship between healthcare providers and insurance companies. The article focused on increasing difficulties that providers face in collecting payments from insurers.
The article cited statistics that more than 30 cents of every dollar spent on health care goes to administrative costs, almost twice the amount (16.7 percent) that is spent on administrative costs in Canada. It also looked at increasing consolidation in the health insurance industry and the emergence of companies that help providers support original claims that are challenged or denied by insurers.
Earlier in the week, the series examined the decline in employer-provided healthcare benefits and the move of insurers into money management.
