Tacoma, Wash.-based MultiCare Health System is suing Optum and Change Healthcare, alleging that Change owes the system at least $1.2 million in outstanding claims.
The lawsuit, filed Jan. 27 in Washington federal court, alleges that Change “consistently failed to provide the required coding and billing services” for MultiCare’s anesthesia operations at its Capital Medical Center in Olympia, Wash.
MultiCare said that in late 2023, it began contacting Change to discuss persistent issues with the timeliness and accuracy of its billing services. By early 2024, Change allegedly failed to timely submit or process about $1.6 million in claims. Half of those claims had passed their claim submission or payment windows and could no longer be recovered.
“Although MultiCare received repeated assurances from Change that these issues would be addressed, this did not occur,” the system said in the lawsuit, adding that it formally notified Change of a contract breach in an August 2024 letter.
MultiCare said that following a 90-day wind-down period, at least $1.2 million in claims remained outstanding and the system was “left with no ability to recover this money or mitigate its losses.”
The system is seeking a minimum $1.2 million judgment against Optum and Change.
Optum did not respond to a request for comment from Becker’s. Change Healthcare merged with Optum in October 2022.
The lawsuit was originally filed in King County Superior Court Dec. 30 before being moved to federal court. Attorneys for Optum and Change said in their notice of removal to federal court that the “defendants do not admit any of the allegations in MultiCare’s complaint, and do not concede that MultiCare is entitled to any relief,” The News Tribune reported Feb. 8.
A MultiCare spokesperson told Becker’s the system has no further comment beyond what was filed in the lawsuit.
