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Tension Between Doctors, Insurers Rising
Here's a special report by CNN on the growing influence that insurers have over doctors and the practice of medicine.
One physician tells CNN, for instance, that Medicare covers a yearly prostate exam but won't reimburse for another service, like a blood pressure check, if it's done on the same patient on the same day. The doctor wonders, "Should I have the patient come back just to check his blood pressure so I can get paid for it?"
Even President Obama's personal physician is quoted saying that insurers "interfere," with his practice.
This program aired on September 26, 2009. The audio for this program is not available.