Colossal red tape.

I recently received a letter from an insurance company advising me that, to process my client's injury claim, the insurer would "require UB-92 forms for hospital care and HCFA 1500 forms for any other medical care. These forms provide specific diagnosis and treatment coding necessary for our evaluation process. Any bills received in a format other than noted above may not be considered in our evaluation."

As many TRIAL readers know, many insurers have adopted computerized analyses of injury cases using the Colossus program. [See Christine Cobb, Compensation by Computer, Apr. 2005, at 36.] Apparently, the computer finds that it can't deal with inputs other than those on official forms. Clearly, the program tail is wagging the dog.

Peter N. Munsing

Wyomissing, Pennsylvania