AMA: Doctors shortchanged by insurers' mistakes
CHICAGO — The nation's largest doctors' group says about one in five payments of medical claims by commercial health insurers is inaccurate, shortchanging physicians.
The American Medical Association released its annual report card on insurers Monday. The AMA says eliminating mistakes would save doctors and insurers $17 billion a year.
Medicare beat all the commercial insurers, with a 96 percent accuracy rate.
Lowest rated was Anthem Blue Cross with 61 percent. Anthem's parent company, WellPoint Inc., says it's expanding electronic claims processing to increase accuracy.
Robert Zirkelbach is a spokesman for insurance industry group America's Health Insurance Plans. He points out the report card also noted improvements such as reductions in denial rates and better response times.
The AMA is meeting in Chicago.