American Medical Association Issues Code of Conduct for Health Insurance Companies

The American Medical Association has issued a Health Insurer Code of Conduct that highlights
ten principles that the AMA suggests health
insurance companies should follow. The association believes the codes
of conduct will bring transparency and accountability to the insurance
companies.

Many of the principles in the Health Insurers Code
of Conduct were actually included in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care
Act, the newly passed health care legislation and some codes have been laws. However,
consumers may feel more comfortable with a health insurance company that
follows these codes which would make compliance with the codes beneficial for
health insurers.

The official American Medical Association’s
Health Insurer Code of Conduce Principles
cover:

1. How health insurance companies
   should handle rescissions and cancellations;
2. Spending on medical services and
   health insurance premiums;
3. How consumers can get access to
   medical care;
4. Ways that health insurance
   companies should handle their relationships with consumers and health care
   providers;
5. Only physicians can decide if
   health care services are medically necessary;
6. How health insurance companies
   handle benefit management for consumers;
7. Health insurance companies should
   simplify they way they handle business;
8. Ways to handle physician
   profiling for health insurance companies networks;
9. Levels of corporate integrity
   that health insurance companies should reach; and,
10. How health insurance companies should
    work on claims processing.

The AMA just sent to principles to the eight
largest health insurance companies so it will be interesting to see what health
insurance companies already comply with the Code of Conducts and what companies
will change their practices immediately.

View original post on http://www.gohealthinsurance.com/blog