UnitedHealth Group Settles in New York
Written by Chris on January 14th, 2009 in General Insurance.
UnitedHealth recently approved a $50 million agreement that will settle allegations of price gouging in the state of New York.
In February 2008, Andrew Cuomo, New York State Attorney General, began to investigate UnitedHealth subsidiary Igenix Inc.
The $50 million that UnitedHealth is paying will be used to establish a database to replace the one that was being used under the Igenix name. The main responsibility of the database is to decide on reimbursements for medical procedures.
In addition to establishing a new database, UnitedHealth will also have to lend information to consumers on medical costs.
Fortunately, UnitedHealth announced that this move will not have any impact on employment at the Igenix location in Rocky Hill.
In a recent press release, Cuomo said, “For the past 10 years, American patients have suffered from unfair reimbursements for critical medical services due to a conflict-ridden system that has been owned, operated and manipulated by the health insurance industry. This agreement marks the end of a flawed system.”
Since Igenix is used at nearly every other health insurance company it is safe to say that there problems are far from over.
This settlement has received praise all over the country. Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General said, “Today’s settlement between New York and UnitedHealth Group - eventually establishing a new reimbursement rate system - is a significant step toward protecting patients who may have been shortchanged millions of dollars over several years by insurers.”
Related posts:
