Thursday, October 15, 2009

Lies, damn lies, and statistics (healthcare)

First check out this claim that Medicare denies more claims than any other insurance company. When you're done playing in your spreadsheet (those of you who are data geeks) figuring out why these numbers don't add up to any sort of reality and why the chart means absolutely nothing, then check out this story about the insurance company that appears--on the chart--to have the lowest denial rate.

Hmmm, paying $1.35 on a $208 claim adds up to effectively denying the claim. And that's just the most minor of United Healthcare's sins in this instance.