Why do health insurers send out unintelligible statements with billing codes tha none of us can decipher? The New York Times has a good column on these questions. It includes quotes from the president's senior adviser on health information technology, who admits he can't figure out the insurance statements he receives.
Insurers call these mailings EOBs -- or explanations of benefits. Consumers may want to scream EOB -- or "end our bondage" -- in this meaningless labyrinth of paperwork. After all, isn't this the era of CONSUMER-DRIVEN HEALTH CARE, when all the informational tools will be available to consumers to help them make better choices?