Source: Brownstone Institute
by Margaret Hampton
“Healthcare systems (insurers and other payers) only reimburse what is coded and billable. The lack of codes for all healthcare options started in 1983 when the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) agreed that HHS would only use the AMAs codes to process Medicare and Medicaid claims. In 2002, HHS mandated use of the AMA’s codes for filing electronic claims. ABC codes were mentioned as an option but not adopted and the AMA currently has a monopoly on billing codes. … As a result, patients frequently experience long wait times and expensive interventions only after disease has advanced.” (07/06/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-reimbursement-code-monopoly-is-a-threat-to-health/