[toomuchtodo]

> For complex health care problems, I recommend hiring a consultant to provide administrative (not medical!) guidance.

This is called a patient advocate. Think of them as your healthcare guardian.

Sometimes you hire one, sometimes one will be assigned to you in more progressive healthcare systems. If you are fighting a chronic or potentially lethal disease, I highly recommend one.

Edit: Your patient advocate is usually covered by insurance if they work for the hospital or the insurance company, but not if you hire them directly. Take that for what you will.

[arielweisberg]

Sounds like you need patient advocate insurance. I wish I were trolling.

[a3n]

Because medical insurance itself has worked so well for us.

[gt_]

Does American insurance cover this? I have inquired about something like this before when I was getting conflicting diagnoses and treatment plans. Everyone I asked (at my insurance company) acted like they didn’t know what I was talking about. I did not size the phrase “patient advocate” but if one were available, I think my need for them would have been clear.

[ceejayoz]

The patient advocates employed by insurers are primarily there to try and reduce your medical needs, so they can save money.

They're not going to reconcile differing diagnoses, they're going to ask if you've gotten your flu shot yet.

[pc86]

If insurance denies claims for life-saving medical procedures because they happened out of network, I have a hard time believing they'd pay for someone to give you advice.

[lukeschlather]

The article gives a good example of why it's in the insurance companies' interest to pay people to give you advice. It was obvious to everyone on the ground that the insurer would save money if they just sent the author's mother to an out-of-network physical therapist rather than keeping her in the hospital. But the insurer didn't have anyone who could quickly make that cost-saving judgment call.

Really, the biggest problem in a lot of cases is not that insurers deny claims for life-saving procedures, it's that they prioritize expensive and ineffective treatments over inexpensive and effective treatments.