Health plans: ALL or nothing could be here to stay

Medical Economics, January, 2008 by Terry, Ken

Despite state laws and class-action settlements, many insurers still force doctors to take plans they don't want.

In 2005, a year after UnitedHealthcare acquired Oxford Health Plans, it issued an ultimatum to New York-area physicians: take both plans or you can't participate in either. Internist Daniel L. Brook of New York City, who says he'd had problems with Oxford and didn't want to add another managed care plan, refused to sign with United. As a result, when his Oxford contract expired in October 2005, it wasn't renewed.

A large portion of Brook's patients belonged to Oxford at the time. Because the plan paid poorly, it represented a smaller percentage of his revenues; yet his practice took a significant financial hit, he says, when he lost Oxford. Also, the number...

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