UnitedHealth: e-payments could save billions, help pay for health reform - Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal:

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A report released Tuesday by the health insurancew giant claims the system couldsave $332 billion over the next 10 yearzs if health providers update their technology. Minnetonka-based UnitedHealth estimated 50 percent of the savingz would go to hospitalsand doctors, 20 perceng to the federal government’s Medicar e and Medicaid programs, and 30 percent to commercia payers. But UnitedHealth believes the governmen could institute policies to take a large share to help pay forreform “The resulting administrative savings could help offsegt the subsidy cost of health care expansion for the newly insured,” the report UnitedHealth said it drew on its expertise as one of the largestt health technology companies in the Uniterd States to formulate the estimate.
The numberr only includes administrative savings, and doesn’t venture into how much could be saveds in reducing wasteful medical costs what many experts have pointedc to as a culprit for drivinggup costs. Much of the $332 billiom in savings would come from getting rid of papedr records of all typesat providers. For example, UnitedHealtgh estimates more than $108 billion would be save in printing, postage and administrative costws by shifting payments and remittances to anelectronicv format. National information systems also could save UnitedHealth estimates morethan $47 billion could be savef if there was a national system to monitor and flag questionablwe health claims.
This is the second majof report UnitedHealth has issued amid the healtuhreform debate, which President Barack Obama considers one of his top The health insurance giant said last month that the federao government could save $540 billiobn in Medicare costs over the next 10 years with its own