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    Michael Hiltzik: This huge insurer got caught flouting a law protecting contraceptive access, but its fine is a joke

    by Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times Jun 27, 2024 6 minutes
    UnitedHealthcare health insurance company signage is displayed on an office building in Phoenix on July 19, 2023.

    There's good news and bad news about a legal settlement that New York state just reached with the giant health insurer UnitedHealth over its denial of contraception coverage for a member, which violated state law.

    The good news is that UnitedHealth got caught and has been ordered to reimburse the member — and all others in her situation — for the out-of-pocket costs they incurred.

    The bad news is that in addition to the reimbursement order, New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James imposed a penalty of only $1 million on the company.

    For UnitedHealth, that's the equivalent of about one-hundredth of a penny based on its annual revenue. In other words, if someone dropped a packet worth of $1 million on the street in front of the company's chairman, he might not even bend over to pick them up for fear of creasing his trousers.

    A couple more bits of bad news: Not only is UnitedHealth a "repeat offender" in breaching contraception access laws (in the words

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