Do Personal Injury Attorneys Drive Up Health Care Costs?

Below is a redacted email we received yesterday from a company president that owns a string of MRI clinics. His published rate for an MRI is $295:

I am sure you are already aware but I wanted to pass along some interesting facts.  I recently met with several personal injury attorneys and guess what?  They are not at all interested in working with my company for the following reason:

Our services are not expensive enough.  They told me that they would use me only if I inflated my MRI bill towards $2500.00 like several providers in XXXXXXX  do.  Why?  So those attorneys can commit insurance fraud and when the case is settled, by providing a larger MRI bill (I am sure they have this arrangement with ALL providers), more money is paid to their client.  That means a happy client and a happy attorney as their percentage is larger.

To say the least, wow wee.  There is a company here in XXXXXXXX that caters to this attorneys that company is XXXXX XXXXXX, one of the shadiest providers in the region.  I thought you might find that side of healthcare interesting.  

Aetna Sues Surgery Centers For Over Billing Practices

Aetna is suing seven California surgery centers, claiming they illegally lure customers and overbill up to 2,500 percent more than they pay providers for procedures, reported Bloomberg. The lawsuit, filed in California state court in Santa Clara County, alleges that aetna paid excessive fees to the Bay Area Surgical Management and the six centers it manages, citing a $22,027 bill for shoulder arthroscopy and $119,671 each in fees for 12 lower-back surgeries. Aetna also seeks to stop the centers from waiving coinsurance payments required for out-of-network providers. The “scheme must be promptly declared illegal to preclude its continuation and replication throughout California, and to avoid the potential consequences of irreparably damaging a system of healthcare delivery on which millions of citizens rely,” aetna said in the suit. Article