Ingenix database faces federal going-over

At this point, execs with UnitedHealth Group may be wondering what it takes to kill a zombie Ingenix database--which continues to bite them and chase them around even though it's near dead.

Earlier this year, New York AG Andrew Cuomo negotiated a deal under which UHG agreed to shut down the database maintained by subsidiary Ingenix. Like others, Cuomo accused Ingenix--which was used to determine out-of-network fees for physicians--of setting artificially low fee numbers that left consumers to pay too much. UHG agreed to turn control of the database to an outside not-for-profit. This involved scrapping the old data, too.

Around the same time, the AMA and other medical societies settled a 9-year-old federal lawsuit with United over the Ingenix database, winning a settlement of $350 million.

Now, UHG faces new scrutiny over Ingenix data, this time from the U.S. Senate. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Rockefeller is asking the Inspector General of the Office of Personnel Management to investigate whether federal employees were overcharged for healthcare--since the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program relied on Ingenix for many a year as well.

Rockefeller is attempting to find out, going back 10 years, how many FEHB plans used Ingenix to set rates, and how many federal employees may have been impacted by these rates.

To learn more about this inquiry:
- read this American Medical News piece

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