Class-Action Lawsuits
NATIONAL CLASS-ACTION SETTLEMENTS: Updates
UHC
Settlement Fund Distribution for UCR Class-Action Settlement
On
February 3, 2012, a federal court allowed the release of payments from the 2009
class-action settlement agreement with UnitedHealth Group. The lawsuit stemmed
from the use of the Ingenix database to determine usual, customary, and
reasonable (UCR) fees. As part of the settlement UnitedHealth Group partially
funded the establishment of the new FAIR Health database and will pay almost
$200 million on claims filed by physicians to compensate for artificially low
out-of-network reimbursement rates. Many MSNJ members filed claims under the
settlement agreement and will receive part of the settlement fund. Read AMA’s press
release. We will keep members apprised of the distribution schedule.
MSNJ is a
plaintiff in two pending class-action lawsuits against Aetna and CIGNA based on
their use of the Ingenix database and the resulting artificially low
out-of-network reimbursement rates.