DISQUS

Congratulations on a well-spent hiatus! And welcome back!

Thanks for sorting all that out --- it's important for the average non-physician to know. However, to my mind, the best solution for emergency physicians is to drop all contracts with insurers. You, above any other physicians, have a captive market, and if the insurers want to justify decreasing your reimbursement just because Medicare will, screw 'em. The patients will continue to need to be seen.

This is a significant issue for physicians. Insurance company "A" signs a contract with Hospital "X" as the network provider, at a reasonable rate.....then offers the physicians there an unacceptable contract. So, the physicians don't sign, and when patients show up with emergencies, they are understandably frustrated. The physician then spends 6-12 months trying to get paid, and the patient ends up often in collections. Insurance companies need to make it clear that not all physicians at a "network" facility may be network providers.