New York Attorney General Letitia James announced that Northwell Health will be paying over $1 million as part of a settlement for wrongfully charging patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Huntington Hospital was one of three Northwell Health hospitals that deceptively advertised its emergency rooms as sites where people could get a COVID-19 test, but then billed patients for emergency room visits.

As part of the agreement, Northwell Health has refunded over 2,000 patients around $400,000. It also has to pay a $650,000 penalty and tell future emergency room patients who want to be tested for COVID-19 that they will be billed for emergency department charges.

Northwell Health says it fully cooperated and voluntarily entered an agreement to settle the matter without admitting to any wrongdoing.