New York Probes UnitedHealth

OKLAHOMA CITY -- UnitedHealth (UNH Quote) is at the center of a new industrywide investigation launched by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

The giant health insurer has been accused of using its popular Ingenix database to manipulate reimbursement rates in an ongoing scheme that has cost consumers "hundreds of millions of dollars," Cuomo said in a press conference Wednesday.

He plans to sue both UnitedHealth and Ingenix, which supplies rate information to its parent under an arrangement that Cuomo considers a "gross" conflict of interest. Cuomo has subpoenaed 16 other health insurers, including heavyweights Aetna (AET Quote) and WellPoint (WLP Quote), in the meantime. ...