Lexis Legal News : Mealey's Health Care / ACA : Lawsuit Filings, Litigation, Settlements, Verdicts and Court News

Mealey's Health Care / ACA

March 13, 2019
North Carolina Health Plan Discriminates Against Transgendered, Employees Say

GREENSBORO, N.C. — A state employer health plan violates the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) by discriminating against transgendered individuals by denying coverage for related procedures and medicines, plaintiffs allege in a March 11 suit filed in North Carolina federal court (Maxwell Kadel, et al. v. Dale Folwell, et al., No. 19-272, M.D. N.C.).
March 12, 2019
Iowa High Court: Medicaid Must Cover Transgender Surgery

DES MOINES, Iowa — An administrative rule prohibiting Iowa’s Medicaid program from covering transgender surgery conflicts with state law adding gender identity as a protected class and cannot stand, the Iowa Supreme Court held March 8 (Eerieanna Good, et al. v. Iowa Department of Human Services, No. 18-1158, Iowa Sup.).
March 11, 2019
Amici: Government Pulled Risk Corridor Rug Out From Under ACA Insurers

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The government should not be permitted to incentivize private companies to participate in its Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) risk corridor program and then retroactively revoke its promises in vague riders, eight amicus curiae parties tell the U.S. Supreme Court in March 8 briefs (Land of Lincoln Mutual Health Insurance Co. v. United States, No. N/A, Moda Health Plan Inc. v. United States, No. 18-1028, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina v. United States, No. 17-2154, Maine Community Health Options v. United States, No. 18-1023, U.S. Sup.).
March 8, 2019
Judge: Discrimination Suit Against Wal-Mart, Eye Care Provider May Proceed

PORTLAND, Ore. — A deaf man adequately alleges that Wal-Mart and its vision center partner violated the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) and various anti-discrimination laws by promising but failing to provide an adequate sign language interpreter, a federal judge in Oregon held March 6 in adopting a magistrate judge’s findings (Larry R. Spiva Jr. v. Walmart, et al., No. 18-1024, D. Ore.).
March 7, 2019
Judge: Drug Abuse Treatment Provider Adequately Alleges Breach Of Contract

LOS ANGELES — Substance abuse treatment providers adequately plead breach of contract claims against an insurer, but the remainder of their action fails, a California federal judge held March 4 (TML Recovery v. Humana Inc., No. 18-462, MMR Services LLC v. Humana Inc., et al, No. 18-463, C.D. Calif.).
March 7, 2019
2nd Circuit Grants HHS Extension In New York-ACA Risk-Adjustment Program Spat

NEW YORK — The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on March 5 gave the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services until June to respond to its request for an opinion on how the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s risk-adjustment program interacts and impacts a similar New York program in two insurers’ case challenging whether the state can take proceeds to which the companies were entitled under the federal law (UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., et al. v. Maria T. Vullo, et al., No. 18-2583, 2nd Cir.).
March 6, 2019
Health Insurer Violated Standard Of Care, Judge Says In ERISA Case

SAN FRANCISCO — An insurer’s denial of coverage for intensive residential health care and substance abuse treatments violated generally accepted standards of care, a federal magistrate judge in California held March 5 in a pair of Employee Retirement Income Security Act class actions (David and Natasha Wit, et al. v. United Behavioral Health, No. 14-02346, Gary Alexander, et al. v. United Behavioral Health, No. 14-5337, N.D. Calif.).
March 4, 2019
AARP Says Court Must Vacate ACA Skirting Short-Term Plan Rule

WASHINGTON, D.C. — n agency rule extending how long individuals can receive coverage under threadbare health insurance plans threatens the very communities the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to protect, an amicus curiae told a District of Columbia federal judge on March 1 (Association for Community Affiliated Plans, et al. v. United States Department of Treasury, et al., No. 18-2133, D. D.C.).
February 28, 2019
Judge Largely Dismisses Surgery Provider’s ERISA Action

LOS ANGELES — A medical provider’s claim that plan documents in its Employee Retirement Income Security Act case may differ from other, undisclosed plan documents, does not survive a motion to dismiss, a federal judge in California held Feb. 27 (Beverly Oaks Physicians Surgical Center LLC, et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, et al., No. 18-3866, C.D. Calif., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 31450).
February 25, 2019
Medical Provider’s State Law Claims Survive Dismissal, Federal Judge Says

TRENTON, N.J. — A surgeon’s state law claims alleging that an insurer failed to fully compensate him for breast surgery services survives a motion to dismiss, as it is not preempted and the state law claims all appear valid at this stage, a federal judge in New Jersey held Feb. 21 (Tzvi Small, M.D. v. Oxford Health Insurance Inc., et al., No. 18-13120, D. N.J., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 27878).
February 25, 2019
Anti-Assignment Provision A Valid Bar To Provider’s Insurance Suit, Judge Says

TRENTON, N.J. — A pair of health insurance plans’ anti-assignment provisions are valid and enforceable and bar a provider’s action seeking in excess of $100,000 in Employee Retirement Income Security Act benefits, a federal judge in New Jersey held Feb. 22 (Neurosurgical Associates of NJ PC, et al. v. Aetna Inc., No. 17-13210, D. N.J., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 28353).
February 21, 2019
Government Urges 3rd Circuit To Reject ACA Birth Control Rules Injunction

HARRISBURG, Pa. — States lack standing to challenge rules expanding the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) contraceptive mandate exemptions and cannot prevail even if they did because the rules comply with the law and procedural requirements, the federal defendants defending the rules told a Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals panel in a Feb. 15 brief (Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, et al. v. President, United States of America, et al., Nos. 17-3752, 18-1253,19-1129, 19-1189, 3rd Cir.).
February 21, 2019
Judges Find United States Owes Insurers Under ACA Cost-Sharing Program

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Congress created an implied contract when it implemented the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) cost-sharing program, an obligation it breached when it never authorized payments, a pair of U.S. Court of Federal Claims judges held in a trio of rulings issued Feb. 14 and Feb. 15 (Community Health Choice Inc. v. The United States, No. 18-5C, Common Ground Healthcare Cooperative v. The United States, No. 17-877C, Local Initiative Health Authority, et al. v. The United States, No. 17-1542C, Fed. Clms.).
February 15, 2019
Judge Allows Oregon To Intervene In ACA Contraceptive Rules Suit

SAN FRANCISCO — Oregon filed a timely motion seeking intervention in a suit over Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) rules, and adding it as a plaintiff would have no negative impact on the case, a federal judge in California held Feb. 1 (California, et al. v. Alex M. Azar II, et al., No. 17-5783, N.D. Calif.).
February 15, 2019
Judge: Mental Health Provider May Fall Outside Plan’s Wilderness Exclusion

SALT LAKE CITY — Because an insurer apparently failed to fully assess the services provided by a mental health care provider who happens to provide those services outdoors, its denial was arbitrary and capricious, a federal judge in Utah said Feb. 13 in remanding a case for further review (Michael and Madeline D. v. Anthem Health Plans of Kentucky, No. 17-675, D. Utah, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 24367).
February 15, 2019
Judge: ‘Surprise Bill’ Assignment Exemption Permits Amended Complaint

NEW YORK — An exemption in an anti-assignment clause for surprise bills potentially provides grounds for avoiding the exclusion and warrants allowing a brain surgery provider to amend his complaint against a patient’s insurer, a federal judge in New York held Feb. 1 (Jeffrey Farkas, M.D. LLC, et al. v. Group Health Inc., et al., No. 18-8535, S.D. N.Y., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17756).
February 15, 2019
Judge Says Provider Must Exhaust Medicare Remedies Before Filing Suit

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y. — A home nursing care provider must exhaust all administrative remedies before filing suit because its claim involves authorization for services covered by a Medicare plan, a federal judge in New York held Jan. 29 (Sarene Services Inc., et al. v. Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, an Anthem Co., No. 17-5276, E.D. N.Y., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 15605).
February 14, 2019
Medicaid Expansion Passes Constitutional Muster, Idaho Supreme Court Says

BOISE, Idaho — The 2018 law expanding Medicaid in Idaho withstands constitutional scrutiny, a majority of the state’s high court held Feb. 5 (Brent Regan, et al. v. Lawrence Denney, et al., No. 46545, Idaho Sup., 2019 Ida. LEXIS 22).
February 14, 2019
Judge: Surgery Provider’s Reimbursement Claims Implicate ERISA, Are Preempted

TRENTON, N.J. — Because all of a surgery provider’s allegations flow through an Employee Retirement Income Security Act-governed plan, its claims seeking reimbursement are preempted and must be dismissed, a federal judge in New Jersey held Jan. 23 (Atlantic Shore Surgical Associates v. United Healthcare/Oxford, et al., No. 18-9506, D. N.J., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14413).
February 14, 2019
Substance Abuse Provider: Insurer’s ‘Feigned Ignorance’ Merely An Attempt At Delay

LOS ANGELES — A substance abuse provider who claims in a Feb. 11 brief that its patients’ insurer reneged on promised payment for treatment and the insurer who claims in a motion that the action includes only vague and conclusory allegations await a judge’s decision on the case (TML Recovery v. Humana, No. 18-462, C.D. Calif.).