1. Centene is asking a federal judge to require CMS to recalculate its star rating without including a secret shopper phone call Centene says never reached its call center.
2. UnitedHealth Group reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Labor over allegations that it improperly denied claims for emergency room visits and urinary drug screenings for thousands of patients.
3. Humana filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to require CMS to “retract and recalculate” its 2025 star ratings.
4. Regence BlueShield of Idaho will remain as the state’s health plan administrator after a state judge dismissed a lawsuit from Blue Cross of Idaho that looked to invalidate the new contract.
5. The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, along with the 33 independent BCBS companies, agreed to pay $2.8 billion to settle antitrust claims from healthcare providers, marking the largest settlement of its kind in the healthcare industry.
6. L.A. Care will pay a $55 million penalty to resolve allegations the plan improperly denied claims, and had a backlog of unresolved grievances.
7. A Kansas judge denied Aetna’s petition for judicial review of the state’s Medicaid contract awards.
8. UnitedHealthcare is asking a federal court to prevent CMS from downgrading its Medicare Advantage star ratings based on one phone call.
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