Judge gives final OK to doctor-insurer settlement in Aetna case

The AMA hopes that other companies will follow Aetna's lead.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. Nov. 10, 2003.

The settlement agreement between physicians and Aetna that covers how the company can improve cooperation with doctors and address past grievances is a done deal.

U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno on Oct. 24 gave his final approval to the settlement under which Aetna will compensate physicians for the way the company handled claims in the past decade. The settlement outlines the steps the firm will take to improve business relations with doctors in the future, including disclosing how the company determines what it pays for physicians' services.

"Today's finalization of Aetna's agreement with physicians is the first important step toward making the health care system more responsive to physicians and their patients and we intend to build on this step," Tim Norbeck, Connecticut State Medical Society executive director, said in a statement.

CSMS is one of 27 state and county medical associations that have signed on to the agreement. The settlement stems from lawsuits that individual physicians and medical societies filed against the health plan. The lawsuits were combined and given class-action status. Today about 950,000 physicians are believed to be part of the class.

The AMA also announced its support for the settlement and hopes that other health plans involved in litigation with physicians will follow suit. Physicians also have sued CIGNA HealthCare, Anthem, Humana, Prudential Insurance Co. of America and WellPoint Health Networks.