Aetna on colonoscopies: They should be a pain in the ass
6 January 2008
Thanks to the NYTimes, we now have another example of insurance companies dictating how care is to be delivered, through a one-size-fits all payment system: Aetna has decided that sedation is an unnecessary expense in the performance of colonoscopy.
Aetna, one of the nation’s largest private health plan managers, is the latest insurer to clamp down on the use of a powerful anesthetic during an increasingly common form of colon cancer screening.
The company will send a letter to doctors on Friday, saying that it plans to classify the drug as “medically unnecessary” for most such procedures. As of April 1, Aetna plans to stop paying for its use in those cases.
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Posted by Vijay Goel, M.D. |
Categories: Uncategorized | Tagged: cash-based health, colonoscopy, consumerism, health care reform, health economics | 
