LETTERS | SLICING HEALTH CARE’S RISING PRICE
If insurers want to save money, why not start with executive pay?
JANUARY 01, 2012
ACCORDING TO the Globe, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, among other insurers, will slow the “rise in fees’’ they negotiate with doctors and hospitals by offering lower rises in rates ( “Health insurers slow rise in fees; Providers accepting moderate increases,’’ Page A1, Dec. 26, 2011). Imagine my surprise! Health care providers who get raises? I’ve been a licensed psychologist for 27 years and can’t remember the last “raise’’ I received in my fees from Blue Cross. I do, however, remember the recent reduction in hourly psychotherapy reimbursement by Blue Cross. I guess when rate increases are handed out the term “providers’’ does not apply to those who provide mental health care to Blue Cross subscribers.
Lastly, the focus on providers’ fees implies that providers are the cause of rising health care premiums. While there may be some truth to that in some cases, I wonder why insurance companies don’t also trim the salaries of their most highly paid executives. Now that would truly be slowing the rise in the cost of health care.
Laurie Livingston
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