HMO to pay $41 million for shorting New Jersey patients

Health maintenance organization Health Net has paid $41 million in claims and fines for shortchanging 88,000 customers in New Jersey. State officials say the HMO underpaid claims to reimburse patients for out-of-network healthcare services between 1996 and 2006. Checks, ranging from several thousand dollars to a few dollars, were mailed to current and former customers starting in July.