I’ve been writing quite a few articles lately about physicians getting frustrated with the endless requests for information in addition to harassing frequent calls. Today I was notified by one of our clients his neurologist “fired” him because of the number of calls his Unum claims handler made to her office. Apparently, the claims specialist even got into arguments with her staff. Today’s use of what I call third-party paper chasers can turn a physician’s practice into a patient chaos that’s often hard to get out of.
Here’s a good example. A physician, one of our client’s specialists who had been reporting disability, made a decision she didn’t have to put up with Unum anymore and told our client he should find someone else to treat him. This now places the insured in the position of having to find another specialist and wait 2-3 months for an appointment. In this case, the neurologist in question wouldn’t even sign the last APS form claiming, “We just aren’t going to do this anymore because we don’t want to deal with Unum.”
Clearly, this is an area in which Unum is, and always has been, out of control. In addition, I received a letter from the same claims specialist demanding updated information by August 30th. Really? This insured has an own occuaption Paul Revere policy which says “proof of loss must be submitted within 90 days of the period for which benefits are owed.”
Actually, the August deadline is a give away to Unum’s motives. It’s pretty clear this client’s claim has been targeted as an August denial. Remember, reductions in financial reserve are immediate contributions to profit. Unum wants this client’s claim gone by the end of August.
Nevertheless, disability insurers should not be allowed to so agitate physicians to the point where the insured becomes a victim of having to look elsewhere for care and treatment. This kind of abuse is of the worst kind. Let’s face it. Physicians are running out of patience and it’s true they don’t have to put up with it.
Because of Unum’s blatant harassment of physicians, we strongly advise insureds to speak frankly and honestly with their physicians about Unum’s. or any other insurance company’s pattern of practice and have a plan in place to deal with the harassing calls. Unfortunately, when physicians have had enough…..they’ve had enough and you might find yourself looking for another doc.
Speak to your physician about what could happen and talk about it openly and honestly long before your insurance company, or paper chaser, starts making the calls. This is really a priority for all insureds with Unum policies although Unum isn’t the only insurer who is “bugging” physicians to the point of firing their patients.
