UnitedHealthcare to pay $91M after denying coverage to some patients

UnitedHealthcare, the nation’s largest health insurer, will have to shell out $91 million to patients who were wrongfully denied coverage for some healthcare services.

The California Supreme Court solidified the ruling, which was made late last year in a California appeals court. The case goes back roughly a decade, after the California insurance commissioner’s office found more than 900,000 violations involving patient claims and other issues with UnitedHealthcare’s subsidiary, PacifiCare, around the merger between the two in 2005, CNN reported.

The practices led to denied coverage and access to medical care for some patients. The decision effectively brings more power to the insurance commissioner’s office as a regulator and has national implications for other major insurers.

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Amy Baxter

Amy joined TriMed Media as a Senior Writer for HealthExec after covering home care for three years. When not writing about all things healthcare, she fulfills her lifelong dream of becoming a pirate by sailing in regattas and enjoying rum. Fun fact: she sailed 333 miles across Lake Michigan in the Chicago Yacht Club "Race to Mackinac."

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