Another problem I've encountered is billing errors. I work for a large teaching hospital which offers its own insurance plan in addition to Blue Cross. The problem is that you can ONLY use facilities affiliated with that hospital. We have great doctors, but the billing error rate is well above 50%. I got tired of dealing with collection agencies pursuing me for bills I had never received, or bills I didn't owe, so I went back to Blue Cross. Even so, I still got an Explanation of Benefits last October saying my insurance claim had been denied for services I got in January, because somewhere between the doctor's office and the billing office they lost my insurance information.

Just think of all the money hospitals could save if they actually kept track of insurance information. Or even better, if we had single payer, but I won't go into that can of worms.