Mo. reaches settlement over insurance

ST. LOUIS -- An insurance company has agreed to return nearly $8 million to St. Louis-area consumers as part of an agreement reached with state officials to settle allegations that the insurer didn't tell customers about a cheaper, identical plan.

Anthem BlueCross BlueShield of Missouri is returning a total of $7.8 million to about 5,500 consumers in the St. Louis area under the deal with the Missouri Department of Insurance, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

"Part of our mission ... is to ensure that consumers are fully informed about their insurance coverage options when they buy insurance," John Huff, director of the department, said in a statement.

Anthem denies wrongdoing and any failure to provide information, but says it agreed to the settlement to avoid litigation costs.

Anthem spokeswoman Deb Wiethop said the average check per consumer for premiums previously paid into the more expensive plan will be slightly more than $1,000.

The Missouri Department of Insurance accused Anthem, which does business in Missouri as Healthy Alliance Life Insurance Co. and HMO Missouri Inc., of offering two similar health plans to St. Louis-area consumers but charging more in premiums for one of them. Consumers weren't made aware of a lower-priced plan, according to the settlement.

Wiethop, however, said consumers were made aware of the lower-priced option with pamphlets and insurance brokers in 2007. About 90 percent of consumers decided to switch to the lower-priced plan at the time, she said. She also said the price difference was due to factors including previous health-care provider discounts that were better in some areas.