Third-party payment

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.

The physicians that most commonly perform non-therapeutic infant circumcisions are obstetricians, pediatricians, and family doctors. They formed an agreement in 2007 to produce a new statement with the AAP as the lead. It was published in 2012 but was poorly received because of its evident omissions of facts. The AAP statement was not re-affirmed is accordance with AAP policy, so it expired on August 31, 2017.

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

The American Academy of Pediatrics created its 2012 policy statement (now expired) specifically to preserve and protect third party payment.

See also

• Financial Incentive

External links

• The Foreskin Industry, Acroposthion. Retrieved 2 March 2020.