US private health insurance companies clog system amid Covid-19 pandemic

Patients left waiting in beds until private insurance companies authorize next steps, which can take days

As Augie Lindmark, a resident physician at Yale University prepared for an onslaught of Covid-19 patients last week, he noticed something at his hospital: there were still patients without the virus, completely stable, in the beds.

These patients, many of whom should have been moved to a rehab facility or released, were stuck waiting until their private health insurance company authorized the next steps, which can take days.

Usually, the prior authorization process is an expected inefficiency at Yale, and most other American hospitals. But with thousands of Covid-19 patients being admitted every day across the country, and a critical shortage of hospital beds, that red tape now carries much more weight.

Any sort of slowing in the health system has dire consequences, Lindmark said.

In the past two weeks the reality of the Covid-19 pandemic has hit the country. States and cities have been weighing public health measures, making changes to government health plans, and pushing sweeping changes to everyday life. Physicians have largely sought to reschedule and cancel elective surgeries and other patient visits deemed non-essential to free up resources to handle the virus.

But with a history of restrictive and confusing policies, private health insurance companies have lagged behind: making incremental changes to plans even as health providers seek to change course.

Original Article : HERE ;

from MetNews https://metnews.pw/us-private-health-insurance-companies-clog-system-amid-covid-19-pandemic/