It was amazingly brazen for the New York health insurance industry to submit a letter blaming doctors for inflated out-of- network medical bills the same week a U. S. Senate investigative committee confirmed that insurers have been secretly cheating patients on valid medical claims (June 28 News).

The Senate report confirmed that insurers and others colluded to shortchange patients while pocketing the extra dollars as profit. In New York, for example, insurance companies were paying only 70 cents on each dollar they owed to patients. Now that it’s clear that insurers have been secretly profiting by paying medical bills at less than what was promised, it appears disingenuous for New York’s health insurers to play the role of patient advocate.

Instead of casting stones at doctors in an attempt to deflect blame, New York insurers should concentrate on repairing their broken relationships with patients and physicians. Restoring fair reimbursements for out-of-network medical care would be a good first step.

William A. Dolan, M. D.

American Medical Association Board Member, Rochester