Drug shortages and insurance issues: an ongoing challenge with no end in site

From Jorge D. Faccinetti, co-founder and chief editor: Why can’t we address some of the most critical issues affecting healthcare today? These are not just other people’s problems. They affect us, our doctors, and our communities. To illustrate this, we highlight two poignant articles from NPR (National Public Radio) on the current issues affecting patient care in the US.  

The first article is about the shortage of growth hormone and the ongoing debacle with insurance companies’ denial and prior authorization challenges.  These are the challenges I hear our followers, Dr. Blevins and colleagues discussing, which underline the constant frustration with an inefficient, just plain lousy system.  

The second article, from ProPublica reporter David Armstrong, is about a retired medical director who is blowing the whistle on her former employer, Cigna, where she says the mantra for people processing medical insurance claims was “deny, deny, deny.” The issues highlighted in the articles and the ensuing frustrations from doctors and patients don’t even seem to come close to being resolved.  Nothing has been done to mitigate these issues, and given the current state of affairs in Congress, things don’t look good for a solution anytime soon.

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Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Image by Christine Sponchia from Pixabay

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