AMA CPT® Assistant - 2007 Issue 4 (April)
MDL Settlements (April 2007)
April 2007 pages 1-2 MDL Settlements The American Medical Association (AMA) wants you to know that Aetna, Inc, CIGNA Corporation, Health Net, Inc, Humana, Inc, and WellPoint, Inc (Anthem) have settled their Multi-District Litigation (MDL) lawsuits. As a result of these settlements, brought about by state and county medical societies and the nation's physicians, certain health plan practices are prohibited. Each settlement provides for prospective relief such as greater transparency in the health plans' claims processing and payment practices that include: Automatic downcoding Disclosure of fee schedules Disclosure of claim coding and payment policies Prompt payment Retrospective refund request...
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Article Overview
This article summarizes AMA-reported settlement developments involving several major health plans and explains the broad categories of claims-processing, payment, and dispute-resolution changes associated with those agreements. It is aimed at physicians, practice staff, and coding professionals who need to understand how the settlements affect billing workflows, claim review, and compliance oversight.
Why This Topic Matters
The topic matters because the settlements address payer practices that can affect physician reimbursement, claim handling, and administrative disputes. Readers can use the article to identify the kinds of operational and coding-related policy changes that may affect day-to-day billing and payment review.
Article Sections
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April 2007 pages 1-2
An overview of the settlement context, the health plans involved, and the broad categories of claims-processing and payment practices discussed in the update. It also introduces dispute-resolution pathways and related practice resources.
What You Will Learn
- Which broad payer settlement issues are discussed in the update
- How the article frames claims-processing and payment practice changes
- What types of dispute-resolution processes are described
- Which general CPT-related policy areas are referenced
- What resources and organizations are mentioned for further settlement information
Who Should Read This
- Physicians
- Medical practice staff
- Medical coders
- Billing and reimbursement professionals
- Compliance staff
Codes Discussed
Modifiers Discussed
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