Most California physicians recently received a notice about class-action settlement with Concentra, a company that provides PPO networks, medical bill review, and other cost-containment services to insurance companies.

The lawsuit, brought by a Pennsylvania orthopedic medical practice, alleged that Concentra engaged in “silent PPO” activity and used biased repricing methods to unfairly reduce payments to physicians. CMA urges physicians to opt-out of this inadequate settlement agreement, which provides very little real relief to physicians. The deadline to do so is September 12.

The nationwide settlement applies to any physician in the country who has had a workers compensation or auto accident bill repriced by Concentra or one of its subsidiaries. The vast majority of physicians in California are covered by this settlement.

CMA, AMA, and a number of other state medical societies believe the defendants’ promised changes are illusory and inadequate to redress the damages incurred by physicians as a result of defendants’ alleged activities. AMA filed formal objections to this settlement before its preliminary court approval. AMA intends to object again at the formal fairness hearing, currently scheduled for October 19 in Philadelphia.

Click here for more information, including a sample opt-out letter.

Contact: CMA’s legal information line, 415/882-5144 or legalinfo@cmanet.org.