The regulators were attempting to investigate why some health providers in the state are reimbursed at rates up to three times the rates other providers receive. The investigation is part of a month-long query by the state into the disproportionately high premiums small employers in the state pay for health insurance, according to the report.
The insurance executives claimed that confidentiality agreements with providers prohibited them from publicly discussing reimbursement rates or which providers receive the highest fees.
However, a Harvard Pilgrim executive did admit that higher reimbursements are typically paid to large networks of physicians as compared to smaller groups. Differences on average are 45 percent and can reach as much as 300 percent for reimbursements to providers for the same service, according to the report.
Read the Boston Globe’s report on Massachusetts health insurers.
