Washington state Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler has rapped a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc. on its corporate knuckles for use of names other than its legal name in official business.
(Related: State Squares Off Against Health Care Sharing Ministry Program)
Kreidler imposed a $5,000 fine on UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc. in connection with allegations that the company violated Washington state name use rules.
The unit used UnitedHealthcare of Washington, UnitedHealthCare Insurance Company or UnitedHealthcare Services Inc., instead of the unit’s legal name, 297 times in 2018, according to officials in Kreidler’s office.
The problems involved names on checks, and on letters going out to policyholders and medical providers as well as on checks, officials say.
Washington state requires insurers to use their legal names when corresponding with policyholders and patients, officials say.