Tag Archives: Insurers

Minnesota attorney general asks U.S. to investigate Humana

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Karen MerrickMinnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson said patients and doctors are having “significant problems” with Humana.

Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is asking the federal government to investigate Humana’s Medicare Advantage policies after uncovering what she said were “significant problems” reported by Minnesota patients and medical providers.

Affidavits gathered from 25 Minnesotans showed a pattern where Humana denied claims for medical services required by law, overcharged for co-payments and coinsurance, and failed to disclose the providers that are in the network, she said. Swanson’s office also found that Humana didn’t follow procedures laid out by federal regulations for patients to appeal their cases.

“They were stringing people along, taking months to get back to people,” she said. “Oftentimes, it took the intervention of our office — and oftentimes we had to write multiple times.”

Humana, based in Louisville, Ky., is one of the nation’s largest health care insurers in Medicare Advantage, a private policy that covers seniors and those with disabilities. Humana has been doing business in Minnesota for more than 10 years, and provides insurance coverage to more than 100,000 residents through various types of Humana Medicare Advantage plans, including a plan for prescription drugs, according to a company official.

Humana spokeswoman Kate Marx said in an e-mail that the insurer has not been notified of the complaint by the Minnesota attorney general’s office or by federal regulators.

“We take this very seriously and are working to identify the facts,” Marx said.

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Minnesota attorney general asks U.S. to investigate Humana

MN Attorney General Asks Feds To Investigate Humana

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ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO) – Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson says a federal investigation is needed to look into business practices at one of the nation’s largest private Medicare insurers.

On Friday, Swanson sent a massive file of complaints against Humana to the federal agency charged with overseeing that part of Medicare.

She’s asking the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to look into more than 27 complaints on file.

For the past couple of years, Humana policy holders in Minnesota have complained of improper denial of coverage, overcharges for co-payments and failure to follow the required appeals process.

Kentucky-based Humana provides private Medicare insurance coverage to more than 100,000 Minnesota seniors.

This investigation into Humana’s alleged wrongdoing has been going on for a couple of years, Swanson asserts. It stems from both consumer and medical provider complaints from across the state.

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MN Attorney General Asks Feds To Investigate Humana

Minnesota wants CMS to investigate Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans

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AG Lori SwansonMinnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson is asking the CMS to investigate Medicare Advantage plans offered by Humana and has presented regulators with more than 25 affidavits of complaints from beneficiaries.

The affidavits allege, for instance, that Humana denied reimbursement for services that it is required to cover for all Medicare beneficiaries—including diagnostic ultrasounds, mammograms and care in a skilled-nursing facility for a stroke patient.

The letter also said, among other complaints, that the Louisville, Ky.-based insurer created confusion by not adequately disclosing which providers were in-network and does not comply with required appeals processes.

The complaints come at a time when the popularity of Medicare Advantage plans has been escalating. And Minnesota has the highest percentage of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in an MA plan, at 49%—compared with 28.8% of beneficiaries nationwide, the letter said. Humana has 17% of the Medicare Advantage market in Minnesota, according to Swanson’s office.

Swanson wrote that she was asking the CMS to pursue an investigation because states do not have the authority to enforce Medicare Advantage plan rules and make benefit determinations.

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Minnesota wants CMS to investigate Humana’s Medicare Advantage plans