PROFESSIONClass-action notices require individual considerationIn the Courts. By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Oct. 13, 2003. As you're flipping through the mail, don't just cast aside that class-action settlement notice that involves a health plan. While you may have pitched a notice about the Blockbuster excessive late fees settlement without a second thought or recycled that notice about a class-action settlement with the phone company, you should do a little closer reading of settlement notices resulting from lawsuits on behalf of doctors against HMOs. These settlements will have more impact on your life than a coupon for a free burger or movie rental. The agreements will play a large role in the way you are paid for services in the future. They have implications on past payment for services, or the lack thereof, as well. Doctors are considered part of a class unless they actively opt out of it. If they don't opt out, their right to legal standing against the company could be jeopardized down the road. Losing that status may not be a big deal for most physicians. "If you are not going to sue, I frankly don't see the upside to staying out," said Jerome M. Marcus, a Philadelphia attorney who is representing the Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society in a class-action lawsuit against a regional health plan. "There's no point in saying no to $150 if you are not going to sue on your own." But a settlement could have a financial impact on those who have their own lawsuits or other grievance against a particular company for the way past claims were handled. For example, a physician who has thousands of dollars in past claims against a managed care company could give up those claims and be left to gain only a couple hundred dollars if he or she doesn't take the time to read a settlement, understand it and then opt out of the settlement class. [...]Full text of AMNews content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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