From Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi filing a lawsuit against three University of Mississippi Medical Center executives, to the start of a trial over UnitedHealth Group's attempted $13 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare, here are eight recent legal actions involving payers that Becker's has reported since July 28:
1. UnitedHealth Group CFO John Rex was added Aug. 24 to a class-action lawsuit alleging he put the company's business relationship with Wells Fargo ahead of information the company's 401(k) plan was filled with low-performing target-date funds.
2. Centene agreed Aug. 24 to pay $19 million to the state of Washington and $13 million to the federal government to settle allegations it overcharged the state Medicaid program for pharmacy benefit management services.
3. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont filed a federal lawsuit Aug. 22 accusing Teva Pharmaceuticals of acting anticompetitively to force health insurers to pay billions of dollars for its "excessively priced" multiple sclerosis drug, Copaxone.
4. Three Bayonne, N.J.-based CarePoint Health hospitals sued Cigna Aug. 8 for allegedly "drastically" underpaying them and refusing to pay them for services.
5. A federal judge in Alabama on Aug. 9 approved a final settlement of $2.67 billion with Blue Cross Blue Shield companies following a decade-long legal battle over alleged anticompetitive behavior that negatively affected members.
6. Six individuals sued Centene and its subsidiary Celtic Insurance Aug. 5 for allegedly failing to pay for covered services and selling health plans on ACA marketplaces that have inaccurate provider networks.
7. The trial over a Justice Department challenge to the $13 billion proposed merger of UnitedHealth Group's Optum and Change Healthcare began Aug. 1 in Washington, D.C. Former UnitedHealth Group CEO David Wichmann and current CEO Andrew Witty are among those who testified.
8. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi filed a lawsuit July 28 in a state circuit court against three executives with the Jackson-based University of Mississippi Medical Center over allegations of a defamatory public relations campaign following a turbulent contract break earlier this year.