While payers like Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana and Aetna are beginning to battle new lawsuits in court, UnitedHealth Group is claiming a courtroom victory through a clerical error.
Here are five recent legal actions involving payers:
1. A Louisiana appeals court ruled that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana must face a 2016 lawsuit over rate reimbursements. The initial lawsuit alleges Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana violated antitrust laws by leveraging discounted rate reimbursements created by its BlueCard Program.
2. Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health entered the courtroom Feb. 9 over a lawsuit alleging the provider violated antitrust laws by overcharging health plans, which raised member premiums. During the proceedings, a former Blue Shield of California executive said that Sutter Health strong-armed payers into contracting with its entire system instead of with individual facilities.
3. A lawsuit filed Feb. 9 in Connecticut accuses Aetna of discriminating against homosexual women through its fertility treatment coverage policies. The plaintiff, a homosexual woman, argues that because she cannot be impregnated by another woman, she is forced to pay for costly intrauterine insemination before other options are covered by her insurance.
4. Three members of True Health New Mexico are suing the payer over an October 2021 data breach that potentially exposed the information of 63,000 members. The members' lawsuit, filed Jan. 25, claims that the high presence of medical records on the "dark web" should have made such a breach predictable.
5. A Minnesota judge sided with UnitedHealth Group and OptumRx in a lawsuit alleging the companies overcharged on drugs because of a "scrivener’s error." In an opinion unsealed Feb. 3, the judge found that the member alleging UnitedHealth Group overcharged her for prescription drugs had cited a draft plan description that did not dictate her coverage.