1 in 5 Health Insurance Claims Mishandled

It may come as a surprise to few to learn that one in five health insurance claims aren't handled properly. According to a new report by the American Medical Association (AMA), one-fifth of all claims are handled incorrectly by health insurance companies. In their annual "National Health Insurer Report Card," the AMA graded the eight largest health insurers in the U.S. on how claims are handled. The AMA concluded that the system would save $15.5 billion each year in administrative costs if the problems were corrected. In addition to unnecessary administrative costs, wrongly handled claims delay payment to medical providers and frustrate many patients. According to the AMA, the health care system spends as much as $210 billion annually on claims processing.