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Doctors angered by proposed UnitedHealth fines

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With a new policy poised to take effect which would impose fines for out-of-network lab referrals, UnitedHealth Group has gone too far, doctors say. Late last year, UnitedHealth struck a 10-year deal with LabCorp making its locations the preferred in-network testing facilities for the health plan's 28.5 million members. While that didn't raise eyebrows, UnitedHealth's next step did. UHG has now warned doctors that if they referred to other labs frequently, it could potentially fine them $50, slice their fees or even kick them out of the network entirely. This isn't sitting well with the plans' 520,000 contracted physicians, to say the least. UHG is defending the policy as a necessary cost-cutting measure, given that other labs are charging many times what LabCorp does. It also wants LabCorp data to be complete so it can do clinical analysis of patient disease patterns. But the AMA and state medical societies have angrily demanded that UHG change its plans. Meanwhile, UHG promised to suspend its proposed fines in New Jersey after regulators questioned the legality of its actions.

To learn more about the dispute:
- read this piece from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

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Kill the doctors and patients. Who needs them. Customers come dime a dozen. UH wiil find some more.

Thank God the insurance co are finally waking up and they should do this instead of overcharging Medicare, Medicade and increasing peoples insurance rates the drs get exactly what they deserve and i hope and pray the healthcare industry wakens these moron drs up, stop giving them trips, gifts, pens other perks, u the patients and insurances companys are paying for the trips and other things the drs get, let them brown bag it like the poor do, instead of expensive lunches, dinners, and the same with our judges why should they eat out at our expense, while we have poor people here dying of starvation shame on the MORONS go insurance companys i for one am glad you are finally seeing the lite our healthcare system needs fixed and will if you continue to withold things from the Drs and hospital forget about their threat of relocating who care alot of them need to relocate out of site Me i would never trust another Dr after being disabled by one and live in pain 24/7 because of ignorgance and negligence play safe stay away from drs do more research .

I was on to United Healthcar this morning because my doctor says that they have refused to pay for my husbands and my flu shots. They said that the doctor had used the wrong code number. "Not true." said my doctor when I called back. I asked UHC to give me the correct code and they said no - that the doctor was responsible for getting the correct coding. I then said, well then, could you fax it to them? They said no - that the doctor was responsible for getting the correct coding. I asked them what was going on with all the business about UHC being in trouble with the law and suddenly they said that we would be covered for our flu shots now.

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