State officials will hold a press conference today to discuss developments in the case of a bone marrow registry program that included using sexy models to recruit donors — and charging their insurance companies in some cases thousands of dollars for screening tests.

The University of Massachusetts Memorial Hospital, in a settlement with the state of New Hampshire, will not admit guilt, but will pay about $250,000 in civil penalties and to reimburse the state for the costs of investigating the case, the New Hampshire Union Leader has learned. The hospital will also make a donation to National Marrow Donor Program and agree to a strict set of disclosure practices going forward.

Attorney General Michael A. Delaney and James T. Boffetti, senior assistant attorney general in the Consumer Protection & Antitrust Bureau, have called a press conference for 3 p.m. today about “developments in the investigation of UMass Memorial Health Ventures and the Caitlin Raymond International Registry regarding their prior solicitation of bone marrow donors in and from New Hampshire,” according to a press release.

“It's fair to say the investigation has been ongoing for over a year. We've learned a lot of information in that time and we want to share that,” Boffetti said Wednesday.

But Boffetti would not discuss any of the developments prior to today's briefing.

Delaney did not respond to an email sent Wednesday night seeking comment about the settlement.

Manchester Mayor Ted Gatsas said he was invited to the press conference, but said he wasn't informed of anything further regarding the case.

Today's press conference comes on the heels of the Massachusetts hospital announcing Wednesday that it was laying off as many as 900 employees and selling two divisions, citing diminishing profits.

It wasn't known Wednesday night if the layoffs were related to the bone marrow settlement.

The controversy erupted in December 2010 after Gatsas questioned why the city was billed $8,400 for two employees who were screened as potential bone-marrow donors.

The Attorney General's office began investigating what it termed allegations of “improper marketing and billing activities” involving CRIR in March. And the state requested $177,082 in reimbursement from CRIR for testing done on 248 state employees.

CRIR was charging $4,336 for each screening test, which involves a simple inner-cheek swab and typically costs about $50, Boffetti said in November. However, because of health insurance contracts with UMass Medical, the amount actually paid by insurers — or by the self-insured government entities that rely on them to administer their plans — varied.

Anthem paid CRIR about $700 per test, while Harvard Pilgrim paid about $2,000. But if an insurance company had no contract with UMass Medical, they would pay the full amount, according to Boffetti.

According to the Attorney General's office, the registry used models “dressed in provocative clothing” to attract donors at Pheasant Lane Mall in Nashua, the Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester and the Mall at Rockingham Park in Salem.

The registry suspended its donor recruitment activities as of December 2010, Boffetti said.

(New Hampshire Union Leader staff reporters Kathryn Marchocki, Beth LaMontagne Hall and Tim Buckland contributed to this report.)