NJ to Aetna: Pay docs more–for the sake of patients

The Associated Press reports that the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance fined Aetna Health Inc. almost $9.5 million for underpaying some out-of-network doctors, such as ER doctors. New Jersey regulators also ordered the insurer to pay the doctors’ fees in full.

What motivated the regulators was not the pocketbook of doctors, but the plight of Aetna insurees who were balanced billed by underpaid providers. The state told Aetna that once it authorizes a patient to see an out-of-network provider, as in a medical emergency, the insurer must pay the provider enough so that he doesn’t seek more money from the patient.

NJ Fines Aetna Nearly $9.5 Million [Via Yahoo! Finance]

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