In one of payors new attempts to slow ballooning costs for cancer treatment, a new pilot program from UnitedHealth Group will offer oncologists bonuses for committing to standard treatment protocols, according to a report by the New York Times.
Similar programs for oncologists have been launched or are in planning by WellPoint and regional insurers in California, Washington and Pennsylvania. Companies are hoping to wean practices from administering expensive cancer drugs with no more efficacy than less expensive alternatives.
UnitedHealth's project has signed up five oncology practices for one year, offering the physicians an additional fee. The company will eliminate the physicians' traditional markup for administering cancer drugs and share data to identify what works best, the Wall Street Journal adds. Oncologists sometimes earn more than half of their income on the difference between what they pay for chemotherapy drugs and what they charge the insurers for the patient’s treatment plan, the Times reports.
As insurers apply cost-cutting strategies to other specialties, oncology "has been a bit of a sacred cow," said Lee Newcomer, MD, an oncologist who is heading the new UnitedHealth program. Detractors worry the program could be a first step toward denying cancer patients additional treatments based solely on the cost, rationing end-of-life care.
In related news, UnitedHealth reported a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, an increase of 23 percent over the same period last year, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The company gained members in both commercial and government businesses and its health services businesses, offering pharmacy management and technology services, grew rapidly.
Read the New York Times report on health insurers.
Read more coverage on health insurers:
- Citing Pre-Existing Conditions, Large Health Insurers Denied Coverage to 651,000 Applicants in Individual Market
- AHA Supports New Bill Repealing Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurers
- Insurers Allowed to Raise Rates for Children with Pre-Existing Conditions
Similar programs for oncologists have been launched or are in planning by WellPoint and regional insurers in California, Washington and Pennsylvania. Companies are hoping to wean practices from administering expensive cancer drugs with no more efficacy than less expensive alternatives.
UnitedHealth's project has signed up five oncology practices for one year, offering the physicians an additional fee. The company will eliminate the physicians' traditional markup for administering cancer drugs and share data to identify what works best, the Wall Street Journal adds. Oncologists sometimes earn more than half of their income on the difference between what they pay for chemotherapy drugs and what they charge the insurers for the patient’s treatment plan, the Times reports.
As insurers apply cost-cutting strategies to other specialties, oncology "has been a bit of a sacred cow," said Lee Newcomer, MD, an oncologist who is heading the new UnitedHealth program. Detractors worry the program could be a first step toward denying cancer patients additional treatments based solely on the cost, rationing end-of-life care.
In related news, UnitedHealth reported a quarterly profit of $1.3 billion, an increase of 23 percent over the same period last year, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune. The company gained members in both commercial and government businesses and its health services businesses, offering pharmacy management and technology services, grew rapidly.
Read the New York Times report on health insurers.
Read more coverage on health insurers:
- Citing Pre-Existing Conditions, Large Health Insurers Denied Coverage to 651,000 Applicants in Individual Market
- AHA Supports New Bill Repealing Antitrust Exemption for Health Insurers
- Insurers Allowed to Raise Rates for Children with Pre-Existing Conditions