Opinion
Physicians should drop insurers
LETTER — Posted July 4, 2005
Regarding "Out of network, out of luck" (Article, May 16) : This article is simply another example of the sad state of our profession. Unfortunately the tone of the piece was one of conciliation toward third-party payers.
It is time for physicians to resume control of our honorable profession. We should no longer have any involvement with insurers. Our only concern should be a physician-patient relationship with fees being determined by ability to pay. We should help patients file for reimbursement when asked.
Only this approach will end the kind of adversarial, coercive tactics employed by UnitedHealthcare, described in this article.
Jack Francis, MD, Greenbelt, Md.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/07/04/edlt0704.htm.
