In a Significant Ruling for All Plan Sponsors, Insurers and Medical Providers, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals Sides With Medical Provider; Rules Plan Must Provide Third Party Repricing Documents & Methodologies Relied Upon by Plan to Determine “Usual, Reasonable and Customary Rates” and Medical Provider is Eligible for Statutory Damages; “Must be a Beneficiary” more »
An Oklahoma jury slammed Aetna with a $25.5 Million verdict for improperly denying medical claims, awarding the family of the deceased patient $15.5 million in emotional distress and another $10 million in punitive damages. The verdict comes just months after an Aetna medical director admitted under oath, that he never actually looked at a patient’s medical more »
Health Care Service Corp, dba Blue Cross Blue Shield IL, has been sued for fraud on behalf of the City of Chicago and its taxpayers, for inflating claim charges in order to skim taxpayer dollars. As we have previously written, recent cases disputing “cross-plan offsetting” and improper cost containment activities have begun to see the more »
Originally Published by By ROI-NJ, Anjalee Khemlani Trenton | Apr 30, 2018 at 6:55 am : https://www.roi-nj.com/2018/04/30/healthcare/sarlo-in-letter-to-muoio-asks-n-j-to-look-into-details-of-health-insurance-contracts/ Budget and appropriations chair has questions about reimbursements, audits. State Sen. Paul Sarlo has asked Treasurer Elizabeth Muoio about the state heath plans’ third-party administrators. Reining In health care costs continues to be a challenge for many corporations more »
California’s insurance commissioner has launched an investigation into Aetna after learning a former medical director for the insurer admitted under oath he never looked at patients’ records when deciding whether to approve or deny care. Original story Story by Wayne Drash, on CNN California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones expressed outrage after CNN showed him a transcript more »
In Unprecedented Move, DOL Exercises Authority to Issue Cease and Desist Order Under Section 521 of ERISA, Shut Down Fiduciaries Accused of Misconduct, “Healthcare Madoff” Scheme The U.S. Department of Labor obtained a Temporary Restraining Order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangement (MEWA) service providers for more »
From Pension & Benefits Daily Pension & Benefits Daily™ covers all major legislative, regulatory, legal, and industry developments in the area of employee benefits every business day, focusing on actions by Congress,… By Jacklyn Wille Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has been sued more than 30 times in the past week by employers that say the more »
Third Party Administrator, MagnaCare to return $14.5 million to Health Plan Clients after getting sued in federal court, alleging “MagnaCare breached its fiduciary duties and committed prohibited transactions, including dealing with plan assets in its own interest.” In a case we have written about before and as part of a greater, ongoing slew of self-insured more »
**UPDATE** On August 1, 2017 US District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald issued an order granting class certification against ILWU-PMA Welfare Plan and its third party administrator, Zenith American Solutions, for breach of fiduciary duty. According to court records; “Plaintiffs’ claims seeking removal of the Plan’s fiduciaries raise issues that apply generally to the class, and thus a more »
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL- U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services FY 2017-Work-Plan -The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Work Plan for fiscal year (FY) 2017 summarizes new and ongoing reviews and activities that OIG plans to pursue with respect to HHS programs and operations during the current fiscal more »