Santa Clara, CA: Cigna Corp is being accused of bad faith insurance practices by a women in Massachusetts who claims the company requires the network of contracted pharmacies the insurer works with to overcharge its insured customers "unauthorized and excessive amounts" for prescription drugs.
The allegations are that Cigna is involved in a racketeering scheme that's resulted in multiple violations of federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) provisions.
The specific allegations are that Cigna or its agents, without customer knowledge, "clawed back" excess charges as high as 1,043 percent for low-cost, generic prescriptions. By way of example, the suit states that in one case, Cigna contracted to pay $1.75 per prescription for a well-known blood pressure medication but required its pharmacy network to collect $20 co-pays from customers. The $18.25 difference, which the suit describes as "the spread," was then sent to Cigna. The alleged overcharge scheme "is pervasive and significantly increases the costs to patients across the country," according to the complaint.
