[Ads-l] Medical insurance Kentuckianisms?

[Joel S. Berson]

Today I listened to the automated answering voice of a company that 
assists my medical insurer in determining whether another party 
should share in payments to cover an accident (such as someone else 
who was negligent).  The letter I had received was from Louisville, Kentucky.

1)  Early on she said, with a southern intonation, "We provide 
subrogation services to your payor [sic]."  What distressed and 
suffering accident victim these days will know what "subrogation" 
means?  Why not say "We provide assistance to your medical service 
provider in determining whether another party may be responsible for 
some of the costs resulting from a recent accident"?

2)  "Payor" was pronounced "pay-OR", as in "oar/ore/or".  I wonder 
how it was spelled in her script.  I notice, however, that the OED 
has one recent, relevant quotation:

2004   www.gsk.com 8 Nov. (O.E.D. Archive) ,   Patients must be 
paying the full cost of their prescriptions to participate (i.e., not 
reimbursed by any third-party payor).

Joel 

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