5 Myths About Health Insurers

1. Health insurers require prior authorizations a lot: Anthem, required prior authorizations only 2.14% of the time. Cigna and Aetna have higher frequencies -- 4.74% and 5.42%, respectively
2. Health insurers deny a large percentage of claims: Cigna denied only 0.54% of claim lines. UnitedHealth denied 1.18% of claim lines. Aetna and Humana had 1.5% and 1.97% denial rates, respectively
3. When health insurers deny claims, it's usually because they don't cover the services performed: WellPoint's Anthem denied 0.78% of all claim lines for non-coverage. Cigna denied 0.56% of claim lines
4. Health insurers hold up paying claims for as long as possible: Humana pays its claims with a median first remittance response time of six days. WellPoint's Anthem and Cigna have a median of seven days
5. Health insurers mess up payments frequently: Anthem has an accuracy rate for first electronic remittance advice, or ERA, of 90.77%. Aetna, Cigna, and Humana all boast accuracy rates of more than 96%

Source: The Motley Fool
Source URL: http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/07/09/5-myths-abo...

Printer-friendly versionSend to friendmore...