AMA Campaign Targets Cost of Submitting Claims
The American Medical Association (AMA) has launched a campaign to cut the cost of submitting claims to health insurers.
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A Glance at the AMA Report Card
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| Insurer |
Claim response time |
Paid contracted amount |
| Aetna |
13 days |
71 percent |
| Anthem |
7 days |
72 percent |
| CIGNA |
14 days |
66 percent |
| Coventry |
4 days |
87 percent |
| Health Net |
11 days |
Not reported |
| Humana |
13 days |
84 percent |
| Medicare |
14 days |
98 percent |
| United Healthcare |
10 days |
62 percent |
The AMA asks physician practices to participate in
Heal that Claim™ month in November 2008 by submitting timely and accurate claims, reviewing and auditing payer claims for accuracy, and appealing underpaid or denied claims. The goal is to cut the cost of submitting claims from 10 to 18 percent to 1 percent of a practice’s budget.
The Pennsylvania Medical Society encourages practices to participate in Heal that Claim™ month because reducing administrative costs is especially important in Pennsylvania, where reimbursement levels are lower than many other parts of the country.
The Heal the Claims Process™ campaign kicked off June 16, 2008, when the AMA released the results of its first
health insurer report card comparing how quickly and accurately national health insurers reimburse physicians. The report card showed how long it took insurers to respond to a claim and how often they paid the contracted amount.
Pennsylvania health insurance companies—such as Independence Blue Cross and Highmark—were not included on the report card because it only looked at national companies. Athenahealth has
compiled data on these companies but does not use the same metrics as the AMA.
Last Updated: 9/29/2008