目的:这项研究的目的是评估美国主要医疗保险公司使用的正颌手术医疗保险指南的有效性。
方法:这项研究评估了Aetna使用的正颌手术医疗保险指南的有效性,国歌蓝十字蓝盾(BCBS),Cigna,胡玛娜,和联合医疗保健(UHC)。为了评估有效性,我们计算了5项指南的批准率和拒绝率,并使用这些指南来评估一个由精心选择的患者组成的对照组的医疗必要性.如果患者符合“审慎提供者”的标准,则将其纳入对照组,“为这项研究精心打造。分析所有被拒绝的案例,以确定拒绝的根本原因。准则的有效性也是通过确定其完整性和正确性来确定的。
结果:当前的研究证明,没有任何保险准则与“审慎提供者”的标准一致。“当应用于精心挑选的患者时,BCBS的要求,安泰,胡玛娜,和Cigna产生6%至12%的适度排斥率。UHC是一个异常值。其指南拒绝了86%的患者,比同行高约7倍。保险指南因3种不同原因取消患者资格:1)无明显颌骨畸形,2)无明显的健康损害,3)病因学并非承保福利。额外的评估表明,私人保险准则不完整,有时,不正确。
结论:这项研究表明,美国主要医疗保险计划使用的正颌手术医疗保险指南需要修订。最重要的缺陷是在判断医疗必要性时考虑病因。幸运的是,只有一家公司采用了这项政策。此外,所有指南在下颌畸形的确定方式和健康损害的确定方式上都有遗漏和错误。
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to assess the validity of the medical
insurance guidelines for orthognathic surgery used by the major American medical insurance companies.
METHODS: This study assessed the validity of the medical
insurance guidelines for orthognathic surgery used by Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS), Cigna, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare (UHC). To evaluate the validity, we calculated the approval and denial rates of the 5 guidelines when we used them to assess the medical necessity for a control group of carefully selected patients. Patients were included in the control group if they met the criteria of a \"prudent provider,\" crafted for this study. All rejected cases were analyzed to determine the root cause of the denials. The validity of the guidelines was also ascertained by determining their completeness and correctness.
RESULTS: The current study proves that no
insurance guideline is in agreement with the criteria of a \"prudent provider.\" When applied to carefully chosen patients, the requirements of BCBS, Aetna, Humana, and Cigna produce modest rejection rates of 6 to 12%. UHC is an outlier. Its guideline rejects 86% of patients, a rate about 7 times higher than its peers.
Insurance guidelines disqualified patients for 3 different reasons: 1) no significant jaw deformity, 2) no demonstrable health impairment, and 3) the etiology of the condition is not a covered benefit. Additional evaluations demonstrate that the private
insurance guidelines are incomplete, and at times, incorrect.
CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that the medical insurance guidelines for orthognathic surgery used by the major American medical insurance plans need revision. The most consequential flaw was considering etiology in judging medical necessity. Fortunately, only one company adopted this policy. Moreover, all guidelines have omissions and errors in the way jaw deformity is determined and how health impairment is determined.