Aetna Agrees to Pay $5 Million to Reimburse Students
February 5, 2009
The health insurer Aetna will pay more than $5 million to thousands of college students across the country who were shortchanged on health care reimbursements, Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, said Monday.
Written by Staff, The Associated Press
ALBANY (AP) — The health insurer Aetna will pay more than $5 million to thousands of college students across the country who were shortchanged on health care reimbursements, Andrew M. Cuomo, the New York attorney general, said Monday.
About 73,000 students at more than 200 colleges, including 20 in New York, were not properly reimbursed for out-of-network care, according a settlement with the company.
“Students were particularly vulnerable to being cheated because they placed their trust in health care plans sponsored by their colleges,” Mr. Cuomo said in a written statement.
Mr. Cuomo said Aetna’s subsidiary, Aetna Student Health, used an outdated reimbursement rate to pay students and doctors.
An investigation by New York State covered payments for care from 1998 to 2008.
Under the agreement, the company will also update the claims processing system for students.
“Aetna learned that Chickering, an independently operated subsidiary, had underpaid some student health claims from providers who were not part of its network,” said Cynthia Michener, an Aetna spokeswoman. “The affected claims represent only 3 percent of the overall Chickering claim volume.”
The miscalculations occurred because Chickering had used old data tables, but the company has since corrected the process, Ms. Michener said.
Aetna will pay students, or in some cases, their doctors, more than $5.1 million for underpayments, plus interest and penalties calculated under state law. Late payments in New York are subject to 12 percent interest.
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