Delay, Deny, Defend
Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It
By: Jay M. Feinman
Published: March 18, 2010
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 9781591843153
Publisher: Penguin/Portfolio
"Insurance is the great protector of the standard of living of the American middle class, but only when it works", writes insurance expert and Distinguished Professor of Law at Rutgers University School of Law, Jay M. Feinman, in his hard hitting and landmark expose of of the insurance industry Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It. The author describes in vivid detail how the insurance industry delays processing of claims, denies payment of legitimate claims, and defends its actions in court even in cases where prompt payment of the claim would be the correct and legal course of action.
Jay M. Feinman pulls no punches as he builds his case against what he considers unethical and often illegal actions taken by insurance companies. The desire on the part of the insurance companies, writes the author, is a widespread policy designed to increase company profits by routine delay and denial of legitimate claims. Jay Feinman traces this change in insurance company policy, from paying policy holders the correct amount of their claim to one of reducing or avoiding payment entirely, to the mid-1990s, when insurers began to see claims processing as an area of potential profits. The author writes that the industry began to examine the claims payout as leakage of cash, that if retained, would serve to enhance the company's profit margins.
Jay M. Feinman (photo left) describes how global consulting giant McKinsey Consulting recommended that insurers examine more closely the claims processing department for possible cost reductions. Jay Feinman points out that the initial concept was to lower overhead and operating costs in claim processing, but that concept evolved into the principle of delaying, reducing, and avoiding some claim payouts entirely. The idea of claim delay and denial became the new industry method of operation, according to the author, resulting in a sea change in the way that insurance companies treated claims and their customers. What Jay Feinman describes as systemic abuses by the insurance industry, became business as usual leaving policy holders often destitute, homeless, or facing long and expensive court battles.
For me, the power of the book is how Jay M. Feinman provides a clear eyed analysis and evaluation of the worst practices of the insurance industry. He names companies he considers to be the worst offenders, while not letting the other insurers off without mention for their practices. He presents real life stories of people caught on the wrong end of delay, deny, and defend, despite their legitimate claims that should have received prompt payment in full. At the same time, what makes the book especially powerful is that the author offers new ideas and fresh thinking into solving the problems facing the industry and the average policy holder.
Jay Feinman is not anti-insurance. Indeed, he considers insurance essential as disaster protection for maintaining a middle class standard of living. To that end, he provides valuable information for consumers to select the best insurer for their needs, and how to best make a claim should misfortune strike. The author also shares some ideas for legislators to curb the systemic abuses that serve neither the policy holders or the long term viability of the insurance industry. Should current and future policy holders elect to not purchase insurance coverage, and lose confidence in their insurers, the insurance industry and the economy as a whole will suffer. Good business practices, including prompt payment of the correct amount of the claims, will enhance the long term image and profitability if the entire insurance industry.
I highly recommend the seminal and must read book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman, to anyone seeking a deeper understanding in how the insurance companies operate their businesses in the treatment of claims. The author delves deeply into the concept of delay, deny, defend, and why that practices is so widespread in the industry. He also offers real world, workable solutions that benefit the policy holders, the industry, and the overall economy.
Read the controversial and important book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It by Jay M. Feinman, and discover for yourself how to best protect yourself in case of an insurance claim. By better understanding of the industry, and how it operates, and by advocating changes in insurer practices, consumers and businesses will be better protected from disaster, now and in the future.
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