On May 25, 2000, two medical doctors filed a lawsuit in Madison County, Illinois, Circuit Court, the first in a series of legal filings that now includes three class-action lawsuits and thousands of health care providers, including doctors of chiropractic.
On December 21, 2004, the court preliminarily approved a settlement totaling $11.55 million, along with an additional $7.5 million for attorneys' fees. As a part of the proposed settlement, CIGNA HealthCare has agreed to make certain commitments regarding its business practices and disclosures to health care providers. The court will hold a second hearing on April 26, 2005 at 2:30 p.m., to review the settlement and will decide whether to grant final approval of the settlement.
In general, CIGNA HealthCare and other plans are alleged to have improperly denied, delayed and/or reduced payment to health care providers by engaging in several types of allegedly improper conduct.
Doctors who provided covered services between Jan. 1, 1990 and Dec. 29, 2004 to a CIGNA health care member, or to any person covered by a plan offered or administered by any or all of the following other defendants, are included in the litigation:
- Aetna, Inc.
- Aetna-USHC, Inc.
- Anthem, Inc.
- Coventry Health Care, Inc.
- Health Net, Inc.
- Humana, Inc.
- Humana Health Plan, Inc.
- PacifiCare Health Systems, Inc.
- Prudential Insurance Co. of America
- United Health Care
- United Health Group
- Wellpoint Health Networks, Inc.
Additional details are available at www.cignaprovidersettlement.com.
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