The New York Times reports the Senate has decided to investigate and has requested hearings this week to find out how a subsidiary of United Health Care is functioning.

The purpose of the investigation is to find out if consumers have been short changed with payment compensation.   In January, Andrew Cuomo, Attorney General for the state of New York,  reached a settlement with Ingenix, related to the same issues.  Out of network compensation does not cover 70 or 80% of the charges, it is 70 to 80% of the usual and customary fees.

Under the settlement, United Health Care (Ingenix)  is required to create a new data base to calculate such compensation items in the future.   Recently the American Medical Association and the California Medical Association have joined in the ranks as well to determine if the practice is widespread, as balance billing is a very large issue in California as well.

Senator Rockefeller wants a full explantion as to how the process works and is determined to see if in fact consumers have been paying more than what should have been paid, when patients have consulted with physicians or hospitals out of network.

The full story can be read at the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/31/business/31insure.html?ref=business

It’s easy to start ePrescribing today.  It’s free and requires only a computer and internet connection.  Visit http://www.nationalerx.com/ for more information.