Medicare Advantage patients find themselves in regulatory limbo

When Minnesota retiree Doug Morphew needed surgery last year, he expected his Humana Medicare Advantage plan to step up and pay the lion’s share of the bill.

Morphew said the health plan had told him over the phone he would owe just $450 for the two days he spent in a St. Paul hospital recovering from the operation to repair an aortic aneurysm.

Less than a month later, however, Humana hit him with a bill for $6,461.66, claiming the surgery was not covered because the hospital was “out of network,” according to an affidavit he filed with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office last year.

“Considering that I was expecting a bill of $450, I was incredibly upset,” said Morphew, 68, who lives in Lonsdale, Minn., and works part-time as a transportation industry consultant.

“I am insulted by Humana’s runaround. It seems as though Humana is denying my claims hoping that I will give up and pay the out-of-network bills,” he said in the sworn statement.

In an interview with the Center for Public Integrity, Morphew said that Humana paid the bill, but only after “several months of fighting” with him, and after he complained to state regulators.

“It was a nightmare,” he said.

In October 2013, Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson sent Morphew’s formal complaint, and about two dozen others, to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator Marilyn B. Tavenner. Swanson asked the federal official to “undertake an investigation of Humana’s practices and take appropriate remedial and punitive action.”

The letter sparked media coverage in the state. But nearly a year later, Swanson is not satisfied with the response.

“As far as I’m aware, there has been no formal enforcement action taken,” said Minnesota attorney general’s office spokesman Benjamin Wogsland. “We have very serious concerns that continue,” he said.

Citing patient confidentiality laws, Humana spokesman Tom Noland declined to comment on specific cases. But he said that Humana “has worked actively with CMS to resolve the matters outlined in the letter.” CMS said it is satisfied that Humana has largely fixed any problems.

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Copyright 2014 The Center for Public Integrity. This story was published by The Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan investigative news organization in Washington, D.C.