Insurance Company Woes

Psychiatrist says he spends majority of his time "wrangling with insurance companies."
In the New York Times (1/4, D6) "Cases" column, psychiatrist Paul Christopher, MD, of Rhode Island's Butler Hospital, writes, "Physicians in emergency rooms everywhere share the challenge of figuring out where their patients will get the best and most timely care -- a medical or a psychiatric floor, the intensive care unit or the surgical suite? But in psychiatry more than in other specialties, it is insurance that is likely to tie a Gordian knot." Dr. Christopher observes that he spends the majority of his "time wrangling with insurance companies" over what he believes is the appropriate treatment for his patients. Because "legislative reforms like the recent Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, while helpful, have yet to be the Alexandrian sword that so many hope for," in the meantime, "too many patients with substance disorders are still unable to get the prompt care they need and deserve."