A Mid-Atlantic regulator says he believes a health insurer took the wrong approach to complying with a new pharmacy benefit co-payment law.
Delaware Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn has imposed a fine of at least $50,000 on the health insurance arm of CIGNA Corp., Philadelphia, in connection with allegations that the company charged the wrong co-payments for 90-day prescriptions.
A relatively new Delaware law now requires health insurers to offer the same co-payments for plan members who fill prescriptions at local pharmacies that the insurers offer to members who buy drugs through mail-order pharmacies.
In 2006, CIGNA complied with the law by increasing the co-payment for 90-day mail-order prescriptions.
Delaware officials believe that CIGNA was interpreting the law improperly and that it could not change co-payments after contracts had been signed, Denn says.