( CNN ) -- It 's bad enough to be sick and miserable . But adding insult to injury for many a patient is having to hack through a veritable jungle of often-confusing paperwork to make health insurance claims . Dr. Val Jones is part of a practice in Virginia that has lowered its fees and quit taking insurance . Consumers ' frustrations with health insurance paperwork are well-known . But it 's also a frustrating tangle for doctors and their staffs . AC360° correspondent Tom Foreman has a report about one innovative practice that has decided to take on the insurance paperwork monster -- by completely avoiding it . Dr. Val Jones joined a small practice , DocTalker Family Medicine in Vienna , Virginia , where the doctors do not even take insurance . They charge a simple , relatively low fee for each service . That 's it . The doctors at DocTalker grew tired of seeing patients struggle with baffling insurance paperwork while both their health and wealth were on the line . `` They do n't know why they 're getting these questions asked , '' Jones said . `` They do n't know what the forms mean . And ... their compensation is dependent on it . '' This innovation has been good news for Carol `` Yogi '' Yogan of McClain , Virginia . She said she broke her wrist ice skating , and her insurance company initially told her that her injury would not be covered . After persistent effort , she eventually convinced them otherwise . The company paid . But Yogan is certain without her dogged efforts , her claim would have been forever lost in the `` paperwork jungle '' of the insurance trade . Watch Yogan 's struggle with bureaucratic red tape » . Yogi Yogan has pretty much lost all faith in insurance companies . She has enough insurance to cover a catastrophic illness , but for routine care , she 's now going to that nearby fee-for-service medical office where Jones works . `` It 's seamless , '' Yogan said . She knows precisely what she is getting and what it costs . Jones does not believe the insurance industry set out to cultivate the paperwork jungle . She thinks it just grew over time . But now that it is there , she suspects they are making so much money off of it , that there is no real incentive to clear it up . Former insurance industry executive Wendell Potter agrees . He said one way insurers make money is by allowing confusion to reign . `` And people often just give up , '' Potter said , `` and do n't pursue payment when a claim has been denied or been paid inappropriately or not adequately . And the same is true with doctors and hospitals . '' He believes billions of dollars are at stake . The insurance industry , while acknowledging the existence of the paperwork jungle , denies it is a trap for extra profits . Robert Zirkilbach is with a national trade association for insurers called America 's Health Insurance Plans . `` The health insurance industry is one of the most regulated industries in America , and particularly at the state level there are all kinds of requirements of information that needs to be provided to patients in paper and through the mail , '' Zirkilbach said . But he adds , insurers are just as worried as customers about the confusion that causes . `` We agree that reform is needed . In fact , that 's why we 've been working very hard to develop reforms to make the system more efficient , '' Zirkilbach said . AC360° correspondent Tom Foreman contributed to this report .
Practice in Virginia has lowered and simplified its fees and quit taking insurance . The state of California is also considering a similar change, but it's not clear if the changes will be as dramatic or how much they would cost. '' Ex-insurance industry executive says confusion , paperwork help generate profit . Industry spokesman counters that they 're trying to make system more efficient .