National fights between health systems and payers are rising in intensity and publicity — and patients are caught in the middle, The Wall Street Journal reported March 1.
Hospitals and insurance companies have been scuffling for decades, but industry experts told the Journal these contract disputes are becoming fiercer. Across the U.S., patients are receiving letters and emails about potentially losing their coverage. Reeling from the ominous messages, patients are clamoring for appointments and physicians are fielding more calls.
As UnitedHealthcare and New York City-based Mount Sinai Health System, plus Aetna and NewYork-Presbyterian, wrangle over contracts, patients could pay hundreds to thousands of dollars more for healthcare if their coverage is trimmed.
The standoffs are exacerbating frustrations among patients.
"Look at how much pain and suffering you are causing, look at how much distress you are causing, look at how little I am sleeping," Sarah Digby, who got one of the emails Feb. 27, told the Journal.
Alan Adler, MD, Mount Sinai's senior medical director for physician contracting and billing, told the news outlet that patients are "freaking out, quite honestly."
Read more here.