The story leads off with the case of Michael Fields, who was denied coverage of a stress test three times by Blue Cross' screening service.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42613298/ns/nightly_news/By Lisa Myers, Rich Gardella and Azriel Relph
NBC News
updated
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http://commerce.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=f149ce0b-823f-48cb-9d74-68a97f0ecd27">Senate investigation released Friday found a pattern of inappropriate denials for tests like the one Fields’ doctors say he should have received from the start.
The investigation looked at 1,600 cases over a six-month period from 2009 to 2010 involving requests for nuclear cardiac stress tests in the state of Delaware. All of the cases studied were handled by MedSolutions, a company that screens test requests in the state for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware and other insurers.
According to the report, “10 to 15 (percent) of requested tests appear to have been denied inappropriately. MedSolutions and the Delaware insurers denied a significant number of medically necessary nuclear stress tests.”
“It is a huge number,” Sen. John D. Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee told NBC News. “I don't care if it is 5 to 2 percent, it is a huge percent. It follows a pattern that never stops with health insurance companies. It is always the bottom line. The more they say no, the more money they make.”