AB 1687 (FONG) DESERVES PASSAGE INTO LAW

SB 923 (DELEON) DESERVES DEFEAT   

UTILIZATION REVIEW particularly by companies owned, controlled, or supported by insurance companies has been recognized for escalations of cost associated with wrongful denials of treatment. Here's how it works:
1) Josephine Sheetrock gets injured on the job and receives authorized initial treatment from a Primary Treating Physician (PTP) who in turn belongs to a Medical Provider Network (MPN) with which her employer and insurance company have a contract to provide care for injured workers (IWs);
2) Josephine Sheetrock's treatment does not resolve the clinical problem so the PTP seeks authorization for specialty consultation;
3) The PTP's request for authorization for specialty consultation and/or diagnostic tests is denied;
4) An authorization denial letter couched in the language of formal Utilization Review is sent to the PTP (it tells the doc to peddle his papers elsewhere);
5) The formal language is derived from the American Medical Association's Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment, from the American College of Occupational and  Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), and from the current Medical Treatment Utilization Schedule (MTUS), all usually correctly quoted while being wrongly applied;
6) The PTP can file an appeal. It the PTP files appeals too often or too successfully, the PTP risks being dropped from the MPN;
7) The consequence is that formal appeals are often perfunctory, not made at all, and are often unsuccessful (Josephine Sheetrock goes without treatment and is obliged to "go legal," i.e., to retain an attorney who specializes in workers compensation).

*** HMOs, other managed care organizations, and Knox-Keene Plans use similar mechanisms to delay or deny care. Money that should be allocated to patient care is retained by insurance companies, cooperative Utilization Review companies, and for enhanced executive compensation. 

*** AB 1687 (Fong) which applies to workers comp should be passed into law. It will help level the playing field by requiring full disclosure for denied care and by increasing access by injured workers  to lawyers who specialize in workers compensation;

*** SB 923 (Deleon) which also applies to workers comp should be defeated because it will deprive PTPs and their patients from access to specialty care. 

References

See our postings for 1 June 2012, 21 May 2012, and previous postings re workers compensation in http://www.politicsofhealthcare.com

Totalcapitol.com

California Progress Report

San Francisco Chronicle, 8/29/08 ("How to practice medicine without a license")

These articles include reviews of previous attempts to require California state licensure for UR doctors and are available on line, e.g., concerning AB 2968 (Lieber),  AB 933 (Fong), and AB 584 (Fong).