Insurance Co. to Pay $250,000 Settlement

[dollardaze]

An investigation prompted by customer complaints to the Ohio Department of Insurance led to a finding that the health-care insurance company, UnitedHealthcare panicked its customers while negotiating with OhioHealth, central Ohio's largest hospital system.

UnitedHealthcare sent out 176,000 letters to its customers, many of which falsely stated that their doctors would no longer be a part of the company's coverage network, and that the customers would have to either find new doctors or pay higher out-of-network prices. This led to an indundation of calls by those customers to their doctors' offices.

UnitedHealthcare officials sent letters to its customers, apologizing. There were also public apologies made by the chief executive of the insurer's Ohio office, by way of newspaper ads and television commercials.

The fine includes $100,000 to cover the cost of the investigation, and another $150,000 penalty, said a spokesperson for the Insurance Department. The spokesperson also said that compared to other fines, this one is small, but is intended to have UnitedHealthcare make an improvement in customer service.

The company also has 60 days to give the state of Ohio a plan for improving customer communications, and also communication with the Insurance Department.

A spokesperson for UnitedHealthcare said that the company is working on ways to avoid repeating what happened in this case, and that they are now working on a plan that would keep doctors in their plans for 60 days after a hospital contract terminates. This would allow doctors to find other hospitals in which to provide services.

[pennypinch]

I believe the insurance company should be heavily fined for causing panic such as they did. How did these letters get printed and mailed out if it was a "mistake"? One would think someone would have caught this and stopped it if it was unintentional. I also wonder, where does the fine money go?

[moneysense]

That is a shame. Didnt someone read what the button they were pushing to have these letters printed out? And why didnt they read what had been printed. Never assume that something is right, always double check. It doesnt take much time at all.

For these people to be hit with something like that is so unfair. Let these people that made this mistake pay for one doctor visit for each person that was harmed by this action. That way at least they will get something for the panic this had caused.