News: Justice Department announces investigations against four insurers

The U.S. Justice Department is investigating several health insurers over whistle-blower allegations that they fraudulently collected millions in Medicare payments by claiming patients were sicker than they actually were, Modern Healthcare reported.

According to a court document filed last week in a Los Angeles federal court, Aetna, Cigna’s Bravo Health, Health Net, and Humana, are all under investigation.

The current investigations are linked to the False Claims Act lawsuit levied against UnitedHealthcare last month. The Justice Department, however, maintains that it cannot fully decide whether to intervene against the four additional insurers until it completes investigations.

The original lawsuit, filed in 2011, alleges that insurers inflated patients’ risk scores in records reviewed from fiscal year 2006 through 2011 to boost payments under Medicare Advantage, according to Modern Healthcare.