UnitedHealth Group Sued by Medical Society

By Cecilia Green

Published on August 19, 2005

UnitedHealth Group, a major health insurance company in Minnesota, is being sued by the state medical society for allegedly requiring doctors to contract with all of their health plans, if they want to contract with any.

According to a Minnesota state law passed in 2000, physicians are guaranteed the right to choose between plans offered by an insurer. For instance, they can contract with one insurer for HMO plans, and another for PPO plans. However, the new policy of UnitedHealth Group violates this law.

Health plan members often receive benefits by going to a doctor who has a contract with their insurance company, meaning that many individuals choose their physician based on these contracts.

If United Healthcare continues its "all contracts or no contracts" approach, doctors might drop all United plans, forcing some patients to change doctors. Similarly, doctors who are forced to decide between the "all contracts or no contracts" policy may lose several patients.

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