News in brief - Nov. 30, 2009

Medical inflation slows

The Consumer Price Index went up in October, although increases in the costs for medical goods and services are not quite keeping up, according to a report issued by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Nov. 18.

The overall price that consumers pay for goods and services increased 0.3% during October. This was primarily driven by growth in the cost of oil and motor vehicles. Prices for medical care and commodities grew by 0.2%.

The six-month growth in consumer prices was 3.5%, but this number went up only 3.2% for medical care. Within this category, the price for hospital care went up the most, at 5.1%. The cost of professional health services, including those provided by physicians, went up 3.4%.

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AMA launches practice management alerts

The American Medical Association's online Practice Management Center now features alerts to keep physicians and their staff apprised of developments that could affect their practices (www.ama-assn.org/go/pmalerts).

The Web site also allows subscribers to share practice management experiences, sign up to participate in the Heal the Claims Process campaign, file a complaint with a health insurer, or access the AMA's library of practice management tools.

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United fined $750,000 by Georgia Insurance Dept.

UnitedHealthcare subsidiaries were found to have illegally delayed claims payments for members in Georgia and were fined a combined $750,000 by Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.

The violations by subsidiaries Golden Rule Insurance Co., American Medical Security Life Insurance Co. and United Healthcare of Georgia were based on the state's review of claims payments from Oct. 1, 2008, through March 31, 2009, said Wayne Whitaker, spokesman for the commissioner's office.

The fine is United's fourth since Oxendine began requiring quarterly claims reports from health insurers in 1999.

A company statement said, "UnitedHealthcare currently processes 97% of its claims within 15 days in Georgia. This settlement involves only the small percentage of claims not processed within 15 days." The company did not acknowledge wrongdoing.

Oxendine's office said it is reviewing more insurers and expects to issue more fines.

This content was published online only.

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