Paperwork is driving up health care costs by as much as $9 billion annually in California, according to a public interest group that suggests physicians and insurers spend way too much time on processing insurance claims.
In California, physicians typically spend about 45 minutes a day on insurance paperwork, according to a report released Thursday by the California Public Interest Research Group.
"If we can do it more cheaply, it's a win-win for everybody," said Michael Russo, a health care advocate and staff attorney with CalPIRG. "When costs are skyrocketing, it's best to go for the low-hanging fruit. This is an area where we spend a lot of money."
In all, CalPIRG estimates that $9 billion is spent by insurers and medical practices in California to process insurance claims.
"It's just ridiculous," said Dr. David Kosh, a family physician in Sacramento. He said his billing staff spends most of its day on the phone with insurers.
"If I had to do it, I would never be able to see my patients," Kosh said.
CalPIRG suggests creating a nonprofit health information network similar to those in Utah and New England, which use standardized procedures to reduce time-consuming paperwork.
A study published in May by the journal Health Affairs tallied the national cost of the system: between $23 billion and $31 billion a year. The typical physician spends the equivalent of three weeks a year handling insurance claims.
Legislative efforts to streamline the administrative process for filing insurance claims in California have stalled. Some federal lawmakers are pushing for national standards as part of the proposed overhaul of the country's health care system.
Call The Bee's Bobby Caina Calvan, (916) 321-1067.
What You Should Know About Comments on Sacbee.com
Sacbee.com is happy to provide a forum for reader interaction, discussion, feedback and reaction to our stories. However, we reserve the right to delete inappropriate comments or ban users who can't play nice. (See our full terms of service here.)
Here are some rules of the road:
• Keep your comments civil. Don't insult one another or the subjects of our articles. If you think a comment violates our guidelines click the "report abuse" button to notify the moderators. Responding to the comment will only encourage bad behavior.
• Don't use profanities, vulgarities or hate speech. This is a general interest news site. Sometimes, there are children present. Don't say anything in a way you wouldn't want your own child to hear.
• Do not attack other users; focus your comments on issues, not individuals.
• Stay on topic. Only post comments relevant to the article at hand. If you want to discuss an issue with a specific user, click on his profile name and send him a direct message.
• Do not copy and paste outside material into the comment box.
• Don't repeat the same comment over and over. We heard you the first time.
• Do not use the commenting system for advertising. That's spam and it isn't allowed.
• Don't use all capital letters. That's akin to yelling and not appreciated by the audience.
You should also know that The Sacramento Bee does not screen comments before they are posted. You are more likely to see inappropriate comments before our staff does, so we ask that you click the "report abuse" button to submit those comments for moderator review. You also may notify us via email at feedback@sacbee.com. Note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us the profile name of the user who made the comment. Remember, comment moderation is subjective. You may find some material objectionable that we won't and vice versa.
If you submit a comment, the user name of your account will appear along with it. Users cannot remove their own comments once they have submitted them, but you may ask our staff to retract one of your comments by sending an email to feedback@sacbee.com. Again, make sure you note the headline on which the comment is made and tell us your profile name.
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.