HELENA — The Montana University System will soon be paying current and former employees who are owed medical insurance claims.
The university system previously denied the claims, but must now pay as part of a class action settlement, The Missoulian reported Sunday.
The university system used to have an exclusion in its health insurance policy stating it would not pay benefits if other insurance was available, attorney for the plaintiffs Hillary Carls said.
This exclusion is no longer in place, said university system spokesman Kevin McRae..
About 45,000 letters have been sent to people who might have had a claim between October 2001 and December 2016, McRae said.
The university system funds its own health insurance plan and keeps a “multi-million (dollar) reserve,” McRae said. It has adequate funds to pay all claims that are approved as a result of the case, he said.
Current and former employees are submitting claims anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to $120,000, Carls said.
“We’re talking about a population of employees who had been injured in some way, and we’re just trying to get them the compensation they’re due under Montana law,” Carls said.
A hearing on the medical insurance claims is scheduled for Dec. 5 in Gallatin County District Court.