Parity issues
Jim DeWees
Description
Collection
Title:
Parity issues
Creator:
Jim DeWees
Date:
3/20/2007
Text:
Tonight we are having a meeting in Indianapolis with the ACA to discuss, and
begin, the battle for parity legislation in Indiana.
I would love to hear back from any of you that live or work in states that
have gotten the parity legislation passed. Have there been any improvements
that are visible at all, which would justify the time, efforts and the money
that was used to get it passed? Have there been any negative issues that
have come up, like reduction in reimbursements from insurance companies? Or
limiting the networks of insurance companies?
On paper, parity looks like a great thing. But, as we are all aware, the
insurance companies can basically tell us what they are going to pay, and we
can either take it or leave it. There are already some insurance companies
that pay below the cost of the components for certain items, or that pay
below the cost of many orthotic devices. There is NO law that can be
written or passed that would force any insurance company to pay at least a
minimum price for any procedure code. We live in a free-market world here,
and so the insurance companies are going to pay whatever they want to pay,
as long as at least ONE facility is willing to do the work for that price.
Anyway, that is my fear in winning a parity battle here. We might win this
little war, which would force the insurance companies to at least 'allow'
the same benefits that Medicare allows, BUT, they can pay us whatever they
want to pay, which might make is cost-prohibitive for any practitioner to
provide that service to the patient.
Has anyone seen anything like this happening in any states that have parity
so far? If so, please email me and let me know. The meeting is tonight,
and so any comments in favor of, or against this, would be greatly
appreciated. You can either post to the public, or email me privately.
Anything I receive in private will remain private, unless you inform me that
you don't care if it is public. But, I don't plan on publishing anything
back to the public on this, I will not refer to any names or anything at
all, but only by state and in generalities for now.
Thanks,
Jim DeWees, CP
_________________________________________________________________
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begin, the battle for parity legislation in Indiana.
I would love to hear back from any of you that live or work in states that
have gotten the parity legislation passed. Have there been any improvements
that are visible at all, which would justify the time, efforts and the money
that was used to get it passed? Have there been any negative issues that
have come up, like reduction in reimbursements from insurance companies? Or
limiting the networks of insurance companies?
On paper, parity looks like a great thing. But, as we are all aware, the
insurance companies can basically tell us what they are going to pay, and we
can either take it or leave it. There are already some insurance companies
that pay below the cost of the components for certain items, or that pay
below the cost of many orthotic devices. There is NO law that can be
written or passed that would force any insurance company to pay at least a
minimum price for any procedure code. We live in a free-market world here,
and so the insurance companies are going to pay whatever they want to pay,
as long as at least ONE facility is willing to do the work for that price.
Anyway, that is my fear in winning a parity battle here. We might win this
little war, which would force the insurance companies to at least 'allow'
the same benefits that Medicare allows, BUT, they can pay us whatever they
want to pay, which might make is cost-prohibitive for any practitioner to
provide that service to the patient.
Has anyone seen anything like this happening in any states that have parity
so far? If so, please email me and let me know. The meeting is tonight,
and so any comments in favor of, or against this, would be greatly
appreciated. You can either post to the public, or email me privately.
Anything I receive in private will remain private, unless you inform me that
you don't care if it is public. But, I don't plan on publishing anything
back to the public on this, I will not refer to any names or anything at
all, but only by state and in generalities for now.
Thanks,
Jim DeWees, CP
_________________________________________________________________
Interest Rates near 39yr lows! $430,000 Mortgage for $1,399/mo - Calculate
new payment
<URL Redacted>
Citation
Jim DeWees, “Parity issues,” Digital Resource Foundation for Orthotics and Prosthetics, accessed November 24, 2024, https://library.drfop.org/items/show/228002.
