Employer coverage of experimental medical procedures.
Should an employer's medical plan pay for organ transplants, in vitro fertilization or other "experimental" or "high-risk" procedures? Most employers have looked to insurance companies to decide, but the rising frequency and cost of such procedures, coupled with the litigation potential they pose, raise policy making issues that employers themselves must face. A Hewitt Associates Consultant describes some problems and some solutions for insured and self-funded medical plans.
D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000639:trends*; D013673:Technology Assessment, Biomedical / Q000191:economics*; D014180:Transplantation / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States