RICHMOND, Va. — A downtown medical lab firm is putting up a fight against a national insurance company.
Health Diagnostic Laboratory argued this week that an $84 million lawsuit filed against it in October by Connecticut-based Cigna should be tossed out.
Cigna’s case claims that HDL fraudulently billed the insurance firm at an inflated amount while waiving out-of-pocket fees for patients. Cigna’s case depends in part on provisions of the Employment Retirement Security Act of 1974, or ERISA, to make its arguments.
ERISA is a set of federal laws that protects retirement plan funds and includes regulations on how employer-based insurance policies are administered.
In its 43-page Dec. 8 response, HDL called for the case to be dismissed, alleging that Cigna’s claims are not properly founded in ERISA law.
“In reality, this suit is motivated by Cigna’s personal desire to limit out-of-network providers of healthcare services, such as HDL, that Cigna refused to allow to operate in-network,” the response states.
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