Aetna, Optum Ink $8.35 Million Deal in Chiropractor Fee Lawsuit

Aetna Inc. and OptumHealth Care Solutions Inc. signed a settlement worth $8.35 million that’s aimed at resolving a class action saying they wrongly conspired to charge patients administrative fees disguised as medical expenses.

The deal requires the defendants to pay $4.8 million—$4.6 million from Aetna and $200,000 from Optum—into a settlement fund that will be used to compensate individual patients and health plans for the alleged overpayments. It also requires Aetna to separately pay $3.55 million in attorneys’ fees, according to a settlement motion filed Thursday in the US District Court for the Western District of North Carolina.

Patients will ...