New York state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo selected Syracuse University
to lead a research effort that will create a new national health care claims
database. The new entity will create an alternative to the one owned by Ingenix,
which was the subject of an investigation and fines by his office.
Cuomo has said that the flawed Ingenix database was improperly used by health
insurers across the country to pay low out-of-network medical claims. Cuomo said
he would use the fines collected—about $100 million—to create an alternate
database.
On Tuesday, October 27, he announced the selection of Syracuse to lead the
development. The initiative, called FAIR Health, will be based at Syracuse and
coupled with an upstate research network that will create a more transparent
reimbursement database.
Ingenix is owned by insurer UnitedHealthcare. The new upstate network will
involve Cornell University and the State University College at Buffalo.
The American Medical Association was quick to hail the announcement.
“Syracuse University has exceptional resources and respected experts who have
demonstrated a deep understanding of the medical profession's concerns with the
Ingenix database,” the AMA said in a statement. “The combined resources of
Syracuse University and the upstate research network should result in the rapid
creation of a new database that is free of the flaws inherent in the Ingenix
database.”
In June, Cuomo finalized his investigation by announcing that Ingenix ended
its relationship with 12 health insurers, including the three largest insurers
in the nation, along with the largest national and regional insurers operating
in New York state.
Filed by
Barbara
Benson of Crain’s New
York Business, a sister publication of Workforce
Management. To comment, e-mail
editors@workforce.com.
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