AMA Announces Class Action against doctors Wellpoint

 

Thursday, Mar 26,2009, 2:36:21 PM   Click:

Copyright: PR Newswire
Source: PR Newswire
Wordcount: 403

Lawsuit broadens effort to end insurance of medical expenses that changes to doctors and patients

LOS ANGELES, March 25 / PRNewswire-USNewswire / - In an extension of his efforts to expose and ban the whole sector health insurance to defraud patients and physicians good for reimbursement, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced today that it is among several medical societies who filed a class action against Wellpoint, Inc., the largest health insurer in the United States

The trial, filed today in federal court in Los Angeles, alleges that Wellpoint collusion with others to underpay physicians for medical services network, which patients to pay an excessive portion of the medical bill. WADA has filed lawsuits against last month, Aetna Health, Inc. CIGNA Corporation.

"The doctors will not tolerate an apparent conspiracy that enables insurers to play by their own rules without regard for patients, or the legitimate costs to care for them," said AMA President Nancy H. Nielsen, MD

The three trial WADA claim that each insurance company conspired with Ingenix, a unit of United Health Group, the pricing on a system that relies on a database to hide set artificially low reimbursement rates of the network care. A year of investigation by the Attorney General of New York confirmed that the database is Ingenix intentionally rigged to allow insurers to shortchange reimbursements.


"The work of the AMA to remove the veil of secrecy from the Ingenix database promises to benefit patients and doctors by reforming the corrupt system to pay out-of-network medical expenses," said Dr. Nielsen. "Now that the underlying scheme was exposed, health insurers do the right thing by cutting their links with gaps Ingenix database. However, serious damage resulting from prior use of the Ingenix database should still be treated. "

In addition to demand reforms to the payment system used by invalid Aetna, CIGNA and Wellpoint, WADA and partnership of medical societies also seek compensation for physicians who have been severely affected by long term insurers defects the Ingenix database.

The Litigation Center of the AMA and State Medical supports companies Wellpoint trial in partnership with the California Medical Association, Connecticut State Medical Society, Medical Association of Georgia and North Carolina Medical Society.

To view the various complaints against Aetna, CIGNA and Wellpoint, please visit the website of the AMA Litigation Center.

SOURCE American Medical Association

CONTACT: Robert J. Mills, AMA Media Relations, +1-312-464-5970



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