Health Insurance Coverage And Leaving The Hospital Against Medical Advice

There is a huge myth being unknowingly  perpetrated against the general public when it comes to their rights and responsibilities as a patient.  It’s a myth that I can remember hearing as far back as my first few weeks of clinicals during medical school.  It was a constant presence during my residency training and even now, as a private practice hospitalist I hear misinformation being handed down day after day, month after month.

This myth is perpetrated by doctors, nurses, and therapists of all kinds.  What is this myth?  That their health insurance company will not pay for the care provided if they want to leave against the medical advice of their physician.

Will my insurance company pay if I leave against medical advice (AMA)? Yes.  They will pay.  Medicare and Medicaid pay for services that are medically necessary.  For example, if you go to the ER and the doctor recommends a CT scan of your chest and you decline, this does not mean the insurance company will deny payment for your visit to the emergency room.  This is what  the informed consent process is for.  If you have been admitted for a medical condition that requires hospitalization and your care plan meets Medicare medical necessity muster, your care will be paid for whether you leave the hospital when your physician believes it is safe or not.  

Unless your insurance has a specific policy rider that states you must comply with all the recommendations of your physician, which I doubt such a policy exists, they simply do not pay based on whether you decide to agree or disagree with the plan set forth for your care.  If you have any doubt, pull out your phone and call your insurance company from your room.  As patients, we have the right to refuse the recommendations of our physicians, including refusing further advised hospitalized care.

When you enter a general medical hospital, you are doing so under your own free will.  Since you voluntarily agreed to be admitted, you have the right, at all times, to refuse any and all care being provided, including leaving the hospital against the advice of your physician.

And all the care rendered up to that point will get paid for as long as it was medically necessary.  In the last month alone I had to smooth over concerns by three patients and their families who wished to leave the hospital against the advice of their physician but were told by another health care provider that their care would not be paid for.

Our hospitals are not prisons. As physicians, we do not hold our patients hostage against their will.  If your patient wants to leave, they have a right to leave, and their insurance will pay for all care up to that point in time.    As a physician or nurse or other therapy provider with direct patient contact, it’s time we stopped perpetuating this false myth of insurance companies not paying if our patients wish to leave AMA.

If patients want to leave against medical advice, it is our responsibility to explain the risks and benefits or leaving, complete any and all necessary paperwork and follow up needs that minimize the risk to bad outcomes and discharge the patient just as we discharge all our patients and provide them with any necessary prescriptions.  Because they want to leave AMA does not absolve us of our responsibility to discharge them.  It is a patient’s right to leave, if you have verified they have the capacity to understand the risks and benefits of leaving against your advice.  That is your physician responsibility for patients leaving AMA.

If you want to release the patient from your office because of their failure to comply with a plan you have set forth and you no longer feel that you can continue in an adequate physician-patient relationship, you may release them from your practice with a fire my patient letter” after notifying them of your intentions and allowing them adequate time to find a new physician (usually 30 days).

That’s how it works.  So, for the love of God, stop telling patients their insurance won’t pay if they leave AMA.  It’s just not true.

(This is not legal advice.  Contact your lawyer if you’re looking for legal advice)

*This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist*


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