1. Appellate court reverses class-action win in UnitedHealth reprocessing case
The 9th Circuit reversed two lower court rulings requiring UnitedHealth Group’s behavioral health unit to reprocess 67,000 previously denied mental health and substance abuse claims. Plaintiffs proved they had standing to sue, but the payer did not abandon its duties under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
2. Judge blocks move to reveal UnitedHealthcare’s negotiated rates
A Texas judge denied an order that would have required the payer to disclose negotiated service rates with providers. A requested subpoena would have revealed contracts between the payer and providers that treated a beneficiary, but the judge ruled it violated Texas Rules of Civil Procedure.
3. UnitedHealthcare continues major expansion of Minnesota campus
United HealthCare Services expanded office space at its Minnetonka, Minn., headquarters. In March, the subsidiary purchased a 34,000-square-foot office building for $2.85 million and another building for $3 million in the Opus Business Park.
4. UnitedHealth grants HealthNet $2M to reduce healthcare disparities in Indiana
The United Health Foundation awarded a $2 million, three-year grant to HealthNet to expand primary and behavioral healthcare access in Indiana. HealthNet, an Indianapolis-based nonprofit, will use the funds in rural Morgan and Monroe counties and in high-poverty areas in Indianapolis.
5. Vermont board urges UVM Health Network to resolve spat with UnitedHealthcare
The Green Mountain Care Board urged the Burlington-based University of Vermont Medicine Health Network to sort out a contract dispute with UnitedHealthcare, which could leave about 2,900 patients at UVM and its affiliates without coverage. If no deal is made, the patients could lose coverage after April 1. Only patients with employer or individual plans would be affected.
