LOS ANGELES (Legal Newsline) — The U.S. Department of Justice announced May 2 that it has intervened and filed a complaint in a lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group Inc. (UHG).
“The intervention of the United States in this matter illustrates our commitment to ensure the integrity of the Medicare Part C program,” said acting assistant attorney general Chad A. Readler of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.
According to the department, UHG used inaccurate information about beneficiary health status of beneficiaries enrolled in the company’s largest Medicare Advantage Plan to garner inflated risk adjustment payments.
“Medicare Advantage plans not only receive taxpayer-funded payments, but are intended for the health and welfare of the beneficiaries,” said acting U.S. attorney Sandra R. Brown for the Central District of California. “This action sends a warning that our office will continue to scrutinize and hold accountable Medicare Advantage insurers to safeguard the integrity of the Medicare program.”
Handling the case for the department was the Civil Division’s commercial litigation branch, the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the Western District of New York and the Central District of California, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General.