Practice Areas
- Personal Injury
- Automobile Accidents
- Wrongful Death
- Product Liability
- Medical Malpractice
- Premises Liability
- Dog Bites/Pet Attacks
- Industrial Accidents and Worker’s Compensation
Van Dorn Blog 
Automobile Accidents
- Appeals Court Upholds $16 Million Bad Faith Claim Against Allstate
- Insurance Institute Conducts Pickup Truck Safety Tests
- New Hampshire Man Dies In Motorcycle Accident
- Vermont Makes Roads Safer
- Laconia Motorcycle Week
- New Hampshire Motorcycle Safety Awareness Campaign
- True Story
Dog Bites/Pet Attacks
Medical Malpractice
Personal Injury
- Senate Passes Safety Bill for Toys
- Research Your Potential Personal Injury Attorney
- I Call Insurance Company Rules!
- HR 6126: The Fairness in Nursing Home Arbitration Act
- Three Injured in Separate ATV Accidents
- Insurance Companies and Personal Injury Lawyers
- Unethical Lawyers
- "...an informed client is our best client."
- New Hampshire Personal Injury Law
- Beware of Settlement Mills
Attorney Fees
General
Samples Cases
Automobile Accidents
$875,000 recovered for man injured in automobile/bicycle accident
$750,000 recovered for rear-end auto accident resulting in back surgery
Dog Bites/Pet Attacks
Industrial Accidents and Worker’s Compensation
$1,400,000 recovered for victim of industrial accident
Other
$600,000 recovered for man injured in logging accident
$1,600,000 Settlement for Civil Rights Case
Legal News
Little progress in bridge repairs across US...
Two Window Washers Die in Accident at NYC Building...
Appeals Court Upholds $16 Million Verdict Against Allstate...
Insurance tests raise questions about some pickups...
Allstate Ranks as Worst Insurer for Consumers...
Drew Griffin Tonight - "Keeping them Honest."...
Manchester New Hampshire man dies in motorcycle accident...
Teen fleeing Rottweiler fractures skull...
2008 Presidential Candidates Respond to Ten Questions About Their Health Care Reform Proposals...
Doctors Struggle with Insurance Claims Process: Healthcare Costs Rise
We have spent some time writing about how insurance companies are primarily interested in making profits. To increase profits, these companies will delay and deny claims. The more claims an insurance company denies, the more profits it makes. Insurance company greed is not just focused on personal injury victims, or people seeking treatment. Doctors are also struggling with insurance company tactics and their quest to increase profits. Just as the insurance companies blame lawyers for pushing up healthcare costs through lawsuits, the insurance companies claim doctors are pushing up costs by “over treating” patients and ordering expensive procedures.
When you go to a doctor for treatment, you pay a co-pay that is dictated by the insurance company. The doctors then file a claim with the insurance company, seeking reimbursement for the services provided to the patient. Insurance companies will find ways to deny claims on the doctors’ end just like they do to personal injury victims applying to their insurance company for benefits. Many physicians have had claims denied, delayed or reduced. The insurance companies will claim that certain diagnostics or treatments are not necessary and will subsequently deny reimbursement. Most physicians don’t even appeal denied claims because of the time and money involved in the process. Some doctors have reported a 15 and 20 percent decline in the amount of reimbursement they receive from the insurance companies. Meanwhile, some insurance company profits are as high as $4.7 billion, with their CEOs making upwards of $23 million dollars a year. According to a recent survey or physicians, most doctors believe that the faulty claims process has increased the cost of running a practice, and has increased healthcare costs overall.
Perhaps the most disturbing trend is the insurance companies telling the doctors what treatment is necessary for a given case. The theory being that if an insurance company tells a doctor they provided unnecessary treatment to a patient, they can deny the claim and increase their profits. There was one report of a Texas doctor who diagnosed their male patient with breast cancer. Each year there are around 2,030 reported cases of male breast cancer according to the American Cancer Society. The insurance company denied payment of the claim because it was a “male patient with a female diagnosis.”
Some doctors have sued major insurance companies in an attempt to recoup money for their patient services; this has resulted in some settlements worth millions. However, as long as these companies are making billions in profits, they can afford to settle a few multimillion dollar lawsuits in lieu of changing their policies with respect to claims processing. The American Medical Association is currently working on a program to educate physicians on the claims process. The hope is that with more efficient and timely claims filing, more claims will be approved and healthcare costs will be reduced.
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Van Dorn & Curtiss
633 Main Street
Route 10
P.O. Box 263
Orford, NH 03777-0263
Phone: (866) 632-8980
FAQs
Personal Injury
- Am I eligible for a personal injury lawsuit?
- How do the attorneys determine how much my personal injury claim may be worth?
- When I meet with a personal injury attorney for my first consultation, what information should I provide?
Automobile Accidents
- I was in an automobile accident and the payout offered by the insurance company seems low. What should I do?
- I was injured in a car accident and it was the other driver's fault. They didn't have insurance...what can I do?
- I was injured in a car accident and my car sustained very little visual damage. The other driver was at fault and their insurance company is denying my claim. They say because there was so little damage to the car, I am lying about my injury...what can I do?
Wrongful Death
- I recently lost a loved one in an accident. What are my rights?
- How do I bring a wrongful death claim?
- What is a survival action?
Medical Malpractice
- Is it true that legislators are attempting to limit medical malpractice recovery in New Hampshire?
- What are some specific types of medical malpractice?
- My spouse recently died while being treated at a hospital. I think the hospital did something wrong, but the hospital won't release the medical records...what can I do?
Premises Liability
- Are hotels responsible for criminal acts that take place on their property?
- What is premises liability?
- I was injured on someone else's property...now what?
Dog Bites/Pet Attacks
- My child was bitten by a neighbor's dog and the neighbor refuses to pay the medical bills. What should I do?
- How many people are bitten by dogs each year?
- What is the one-bite rule?