Some good news. Mary Ann Roser reports on the investigations by major health insurers that are creating funding difficulties for autism clinics which specialised in unproven and dubious treatments for autism:
The owner of an Austin-area clinic that treats children with autism — using techniques that are controversial in mainstream medicine — says investigations by three major insurers have left it with a pile of unpaid claims and a crisis: She’s had to lay off most of her staff and drastically reduce the clinic’s hours. In addition, Kazuko Grace Curtin said the Texas Medical Board is investigating her medical director. She and the doctor — Jesus Caquias — say the investigation is a way of harassing them because they offer nontraditional care for autism patients.
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CARE Clinics is struggling now because Aetna stopped paying claims in August and is questioning “about $1 million” in claims, Curtin said. Cigna and United Healthcare stopped payments in October and are disputing smaller amounts that Curtin declined to reveal. United is paying again but at a lower rate, she said.
“What they were saying is, autism treatment is not established, it’s experimental,” Curtin said.
Spokeswomen for Cigna and United said the reviews were routine to ensure proper payments. Aetna declined to comment.
Curtin said she closed the two clinics in January to cope with the amount of paperwork she had to produce when the three insurance companies challenged charges for all patients treated in October, November and December. She reopened the Austin clinic March 6, but now it’s open 10 days a month instead of 20 and has 10 employees instead of 40, she said. The Tampa clinic won’t reopen until May, she said.
She also is delaying indefinitely a 30,000-square-foot medical building, school, corporate offices, sports facility, lodge and conference center in Dripping Springs.
“I need some funds,” Curtin said, declining to release specific financial details about her business. “I don’t know how long we can survive.”
The bad news is that while CARE Clinics extract money from increasing skeptical insurers, Thoughtful House is careful to extract the money directly from vunerable parents. Read the whole article for the other non-finanicial pressures on such clinics, and the pleas of victimisation from their owners.
Some good news. Mary Ann Roser reports on the investigations by major health insurers that are creating funding difficulties for autism clinics which specialised in unproven and dubious treatments for autism:
The bad news is that while CARE Clinics extract money from increasing skeptical insurers, Thoughtful House is careful to extract the money directly from vunerable parents. Read the whole article for the other non-finanicial pressures on such clinics, and the pleas of victimisation from their owners.