Deny and delay: The practices fueling anger at U.S. health insurers

After a UnitedHealthcare executive was gunned down on a New York City sidewalk, an eruption of bitter online commentary celebrated the killer's presumed motive: avenging the denial and delay of health insurance coverage. Many spoke from personal experience. Every year, health insurance companies deny tens of millions of patient claims for medical expense reimbursements, and the tide of those denials has been rising, according to surveys of doctors and other health-care providers. Insurers also have been increasingly demanding that doctors obtain approval before providing treatment, similar surveys show, causing delays in patient care that the AMA says are "devastating."