Health insurers are blocking specialists

Regarding the letter about private health plans limiting patients' choice in heart surgeons ["Varied approaches to providing care," May 16]: I have experienced situations in which private insurance carriers are actually blackmailing doctors and using other strong-arm tactics to control and restrict referrals for procedures that are needed but expensive, because the insurer does not like paying the high price.

For instance, I have had a professional relationship with a colleague for over five years. I know that he provides quality care for his patients, and I can be confident that the patients he refers to me for specialty care have received an excellent course of conservative treatment. This is the type of professional relationship that affords quality health care to patients.

Recently, however, one private insurance carrier sent agents to two of my colleague's offices to "investigate" his relationship with me. He indicated to me that on a second visit, these insurance "investigators" basically told him that they did not like paying and wanted him to stop referring to me, or they would make things very difficult for him. Since he has many patients insured by this carrier, he was afraid this would adversely impact his income, and he had to stop referring to me.

I have been practicing health care for 30 years and private insurance carriers have always made it difficult to get paid. This strong-arm tactic, however, goes over the line.

This should be a topic of conversation in the health care reform debate, but since the targeted doctors are afraid to use their names, they don't report this kind of abuse by the private carriers.

Barry V. Cohen, Garden City

Editor's note: The writer is a chiropractor.