According to a news release the university shared with Becker’s Dec. 8, Hennepin County District Court Judge Laurie Miller issued the ruling Dec. 6. The injunction prevents the payer from amending its board to eliminate the University of Minnesota’s majority share before the lawsuit is resolved.
On Nov. 1, the University of Minnesota filed a lawsuit against the payer, alleging UCare’s proposal to expand its board of directors will diminish the university’s influence over the nonprofit health plan it created.
Of the plan’s 15 directors, eight are affiliated with the Minneapolis-based University of Minnesota. In the lawsuit, the university said expanding the board would cause it to lose its majority stake on the board, and it could be left out of key decisions.
The university called the injunction a “significant early decision” in the litigation.
“This decision will allow the university to address the obligations of UCare to Minnesota and the University of Minnesota as UCare continues its U-founded mission of serving Minnesotans — especially patients in underserved populations in need of Medicaid and other insurance protection,” the university said in its statement.
A spokesperson for UCare told Becker’s the temporary injunction is a first step in the legal process.
“UCare remains confident of prevailing in our position as an independent organization in the next phases. We dispute the university’s position. A full review of the facts, which will occur in upcoming litigation, will support UCare’s position,” the spokesperson said.
UCare was launched in the 1980s by the University of Minnesota Department of Family Medicine. The university relinquished its member interest, or ownership, of the nonprofit in 1999, according to a Nov. 7 report in the Star Tribune.
