Knock Knock Eye: Breaking down the American Diabetes Association Boycott
Knock Knock, Hi! with the GlaucomfleckensShow Notes
This week I get into the No Surprises Act, starting with my own $20,000 out-of-network bill after my cardiac arrest and the nine-month fight to resolve it. The law was supposed to prevent exactly that, and from the patient side it works. But the arbitration system behind it is now processing millions of claims per year (not the 22,000 the feds expected), doctors are winning about 85% of the time, and insurance companies are lobbying hard to rewrite the rules.
Then the drama at the American Diabetes Association. The ADA published an editorial in Diabetes Care criticizing proposed NIH cuts, then invited NIH head Jay Bhattacharya to keynote their June meeting. Twelve members handed out reprints of that same editorial outside the keynote, five got escorted out by Louisiana State Police, and Dr. Khan was denied re-entry to his own panel. A CEO apology video, blocked editorials, and a growing boycott later, we’re watching a case study in physician collective advocacy.
Takeaways:
Will’s own $20,000 surprise bill after his cardiac arrest came from out-of-network physicians inside an in-network hospital, and took nine months of fighting to resolve.
The No Surprises Act’s arbitration system was projected to handle 22,000 claims per year but now handles millions, with physicians winning roughly 85% of disputes.
Insurance companies are lobbying for amendments to the arbitration system and routinely delay payment of settled claims by six to nine months to continue floating the money.
The American Diabetes Association had five members escorted out by Louisiana State Police in June for handing out reprints of an editorial published in the ADA’s own journal criticizing NIH funding cuts.
A growing boycott of the ADA journal Diabetes Care illustrates the increasing willingness of physicians and researchers to use collective action against their own professional organizations.
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