Third-party payment in the United States

Third-party payment is the term used to refer to payments for medical services and procedures by a third-party, usually public or private medical or health insurance company or government program.

Third-party payment for non-therapeutic or unnecessary medical procedures encourages the performance of such services, simply so the attending physician can collect a fee.

Third-party payment for injurious medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic child circumcision in the United States keeps the incidence of non-therapeutic circumcision of children higher than any other industrial nation. The only party to benefit from such third-party payments is the receiving physician, or hospital.

United States Medicaid is one of the largest third-party payers for medically-unnecessary, non-therapeutic circumcision.