Nortex Times

The Knox County Hospital District is asking state officials to investigate allegations that Aetna U.S. Healthcare has $12 million in unpaid billings to the Knox County Hospital.

Knox County Hospital is asking for the Texas Departmet of Insurance to conduct the investigation, according to Times Record News. The hospital is claiming Aetna has over $12 million in unpaid fees and claims that date back to June 2018. 

“Aetna is clearly in violation of the Texas Prompt Payment statute,” Kelly Dawson, attorney for Knox County Hospital District, told Time Record News. “These are clean claims that have gone unpaid for two years. TDI, as the regulatory agency for the health care insurance industry, needs to do their job and hold Aetna accountable. In this national crisis, the governor calls upon all health care facilities to remedy this crisis. Without question, health care providers have risen to the task to which they probably never assumed — tasks and sacrifices which will go untold.”

With only one positive case of COVID-19 in Knox County, the hospital district said its claims can be made a priority. 

“We are asking state leaders to ask TDI to make our complaint against Aetna a priority,” Knox County Hospital Administrator Stephen Kuehler told Times Record News. “We can’t wait any longer. These cases go back two years and we need the funds today.”