I had this issue with my surgery in Feb--the doctor out of network and the hospital in. Oxford treated the hospital as out of network. I read this NYTimes article, and was pleased to see that the legality of this is questionable. I think there's a lawsuit here. There is nothing, NOTHING, in the contracts we signed and received from Oxford that says this. We paid for a policy to cover specific costs, and while they have found plenty of ways to lower what we get paid, this does not seem one of the legal ways.

I think anyone who has had this issue with Oxford can file a complaint with the State Insurance Agency as well as the State Attorney General's office, and file a lawsuit for breach of contract. Until Congress makes it illegal to sue an insurance company totally (and they've done a good job so far of making the companies immune to lawsuits) I think there's a possibility here. And until we lose the right to class action lawsuits, that seems possible too.