Are they doing this out of the goodness of their hearts? A number of insurance companies are opting to provide agreed upon provisions as part of the healthcare reform bill much earlier than they need to. Among the benefactions are the cessation of the practice of policy rescission (denying previous coverage after claims scrutiny) and the extension of dependents’ coverage as part of guardians’ plans.

“Our focus right now is on implementing these reforms in a way that’s going to minimize disruption and provide greater peace of mind for the more than 200 million people we serve,” Robert Zirkelbach, a spokesman for the industry group America’s Health Insurance Plans, said Thursday.

Peace of mind for patients from Big Insurance? What about the primary care physicians who have to deal with these changes on top of the administrative roadblocks they now so adeptly navigate? If this NYT column by Pauline Chen is any indication, Insurance’s newfound goodwill is PR cover for the physicians who act as middlemen in making sure that their patients continue to receive the care they were trained to provide amid all these changes. An unforseen by-product of health reform may be the quixotic notion of insurance companies’ benevolence which belies the angst of so many physicians who simply want to continue to provide the best care for their patients.

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