More than 73,000 college students nationwide will benefit from a settlement between New York’s attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, and the health insurer Aetna Inc., which underpaid students receiving out-of-network health care by more than $5-million over the last decade, Mr. Cuomo’s office announced today.

Aetna has agreed to pay the students or, if appropriate, their doctors more than $5.1-million, plus interest and penalties.

The agreement concludes an investigation into the use of outdated reimbursement rates by an Aetna subsidiary, Aetna Student Health, previously known as Chickering Student Health, from 1998 to 2008. Students at more than 200 colleges are covered by the settlement.

A spokeswoman for Aetna said the company had corrected its claims process, according to the Associated Press, and would hire an independent examiner to monitor its compliance and training procedures. Aetna will notify individuals affected and provide details on how to obtain reimbursements.

The settlement stems from a January 15 agreement establishing an independent database to determine fair out-of-network reimbursement rates for consumers.

Mr. Cuomo has investigated conflicts of interest in student lending, colleges’ study-abroad offices, private providers of overseas programs, and college-branded credit cards. —Steven Bushong