1. A federal judge in Washington state ruled that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois discriminated against transgender individuals by denying coverage for medically necessary gender-affirming care in its administration of employer-provided ERISA health plans.
2. A lawsuit from a pension fund holding Centene stock accused former executives of conspiring to defraud state Medicaid programs. The lawsuit accuses the former executives of violating its Medicaid managed care contracts and federal and state law.
3. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi’s defamation lawsuit against Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center is being dismissed with prejudice after the sides reached a contract agreement.
4. A nonprofit and a nurses union filed a lawsuit seeking to block Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield’s reorganization into a nonprofit mutual holding company.
5. A judge granted Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota a temporary injunction in the university’s lawsuit against UCare, preventing the payer from amending its bylaws to change its board while litigation is ongoing.
6. Labor unions contracted with Elevance Health for self-funded plans are suing the payer, alleging Elevance Health does not allow self-paid plans to access their own claims data and charged the self-pay plans higher rates than it had negotiated with hospitals.
7. A three-judge arbitration panel in Florida ruled that UnitedHealthcare must award $10.8 million to a TeamHealth clinician group for underpayments from 2017 to 2020.
8. America’s Health Insurance Plans is backing HHS in a lawsuit filed by the Texas Medical Association challenging the arbitration process established under the No Surprises Act. AHIP argued in an amicus brief that the rule’s arbitration standard does not give players an unfair advantage.
