More Insurance Coverage
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February 05, 2024
Fla. Says New CMS Mandate Threatens Kids' Health Coverage
Florida claims in a new suit that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is trying to turn its subsidized health insurance program for children into a "free-for-all" by prohibiting the state from terminating coverage for children whose families fail to pay required monthly premiums.
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February 05, 2024
Zymergen Ch. 11 Plan Confirmed After Investor Objection
Biotechnology company Zymergen received confirmation of its Chapter 11 plan Monday at a hearing in Delaware bankruptcy court after resolving an objection to the plan from a class of investors suing the company.
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February 02, 2024
3 Arguments, Hearings Benefits Attys Should Watch In Feb.
This month, the Fifth Circuit will hear a battle over the arbitration process for challenging surprise medical bills, the Federal Circuit will referee a NASA worker's bid to get his military leave suit back on track, and Clorox will try to sink a 401(k) forfeitures class action. Here are three court dates benefits attorneys might want to add to their calendars.
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February 02, 2024
Med Biller Who Posed As NBA Star, NFL Atty Gets 12 Years
A Long Island medical biller was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday after being convicted of bilking over $600 million from insurance companies through fraudulent billing submissions and impersonating NBA star Marcus Smart and the NFL's general counsel.
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February 02, 2024
Claims Against BNSF Cut From $1.3M Derailment Dispute
A Washington federal judge trimmed several claims against BNSF Railway Co. and a transportation contractor from Starr Indemnity & Liability Co.'s $1.3 million suit over a shipment of clothing destroyed in a train derailment, finding they were preempted by federal law.
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February 02, 2024
Insurer Pushes To Freeze Mogul's Assets In $524M Fight
An insurer urged a North Carolina federal court to stop the cash flow of an embattled insurance mogul, arguing that a recently announced business deal could result in him liquidating assets and moving his finances offshore as a means of avoiding a $524 million judgment.
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February 02, 2024
Latham Led Firms In January IPOs As New Listings Pick Up
Latham & Watkins LLP assumed work on more initial public offerings than any other law firm in January, steering five IPOs for companies and underwriters during a month that saw a rise in new listings that could portend additional momentum beyond February.
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February 01, 2024
Ex-Trump Org. CFO Faces Possible Perjury Charge, Mulls Plea
Donald Trump's longtime top financial officer Allen Weisselberg is in plea negotiations related to potential perjury charges stemming from his testimony in the New York attorney general's civil fraud trial, according to a source familiar with the matter.
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February 01, 2024
Tenn. Resident Says State Farm Marketing Calls Violated TCPA
State Farm used a third-party company to make automated telemarketing calls without prior consent, violating the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, according to a proposed class action filed in Illinois federal court.
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February 01, 2024
PCF Insurance Taps Ex-AIG Lawyer As General Counsel
PCF Insurance Services said Thursday that it is bringing on a new general counsel who used to serve in-house at AIG, amid a wider leadership shift as the company aims to expand following two multimillion-dollar investments last year.
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February 01, 2024
Adams And Reese Welcomes Back Hartford Atty In Houston
Adams and Reese LLP has added a litigator in Houston who rejoined the firm after serving in-house at the Hartford and Farmers Insurance.
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January 31, 2024
Consumer Slams Car Care Provider's Exit Bid In Contract Suit
A Washington state vehicle owner urged a federal court to preserve her suit against a vehicle care protection provider and its insurer alleging they sold agreements lacking key disclosures, saying the agreement is a service contract under consumer protection laws.
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January 31, 2024
Architect Says Steward Owes $2M For Work On Mass. Hospital
Financially troubled Steward Health Care and its landlord owe nearly $2 million for architectural and other professional services on a project to replace one of its Massachusetts hospitals after a 2020 flood, according to a lawsuit filed in state court.
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January 31, 2024
Ill. Judge Strikes Second Bid To Certify Allstate TCPA Class
An Illinois federal judge has again rejected an attempted class certification of plaintiffs accusing Allstate of violating telemarketing laws by allowing an outside party to solicit "do-not-call" listees on its behalf.
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January 31, 2024
Veteran Litigation Partner Joins Rawle & Henderson In Philly
Rawle & Henderson LLP announced that a longtime McGivney Kluger Clark & Intoccia PC civil defense litigator joined the firm's Philadelphia office as a partner after more than 15 years with his former firm.
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January 31, 2024
AmTrust Elevates In-House Counsel To Pres. Of Title Subsidiary
AmTrust Financial Services has promoted a former in-house counsel who helped lead the company's title insurance affairs in New York to serve as president of its title insurance operations around the country, the company announced Wednesday.
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January 31, 2024
Lab Exec Gets 10 Years For $234M Medicare Fraud Scheme
The operator of a California clinical testing laboratory was sentenced to 10 years in prison for his involvement in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicare for about $234 million after he'd been banned from participating in the program due to prior convictions.
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January 30, 2024
CareFirst Judge Mulls Class OK In Trimmed Data Breach Row
A D.C. federal judge on Tuesday appeared open to the possibility of certifying a class of CareFirst policyholders that would seek only nominal damages against the health insurer for a 2014 data breach that exposed personal information belonging to roughly 1.1 million customers.
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January 30, 2024
Fla. Shouldn't Get Pause On Federal Health Rule, Judge Says
A Florida magistrate judge has said the state shouldn't be granted a pause on a new Medicaid rule or be guarded from a federal financial investigation and recommended dismissing Florida's challenge to the rule entirely.
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January 30, 2024
Judge Nixes Cryptic Ch. 11 Disclosures For NY Diocese
A New York bankruptcy judge shot down proposed disclosure statements in two competing Chapter 11 plans for the Diocese of Rochester on Tuesday, saying that since they were both unclear to him, they would likely be indecipherable for hundreds of sexual abuse survivors who need to vote on the reorganization plans.
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January 29, 2024
NJ Justices Ask If Scooter Rider Is A 'Pedestrian' In Crash Suit
The definitions of "pedestrian," "vehicle" and "motor vehicle" took center stage Monday during extended oral arguments that tasked the New Jersey Supreme Court with determining whether the operator of a low-speed electric scooter who was struck by an automobile is entitled to personal injury protection benefits from the operator's insurance company.
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January 29, 2024
NC Court Pares Down Crop Insurance Coverage Row
A North Carolina federal judge trimmed a crop insurance dispute brought by a farm alleging that its insurance agent didn’t properly submit the coverage application or inform the farm’s owners of coverage, dismissing all claims against the insurer but leaving several against the agent.
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January 29, 2024
Hearing Aid Co. Eargo Investors Ask 9th Circ. To Revive Suit
Investors of Eargo Inc. have told the Ninth Circuit that a lower court erred in dismissing their class action against the hearing aid company since they sufficiently alleged the firm and its top brass acted with intent to commit insurance billing fraud.
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January 29, 2024
Nevada Recycler Denied Redo For SEC Suit Coverage
A Nevada federal court will not reconsider its ruling that a recycling company does not have coverage for costs stemming from a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission fraud action, saying that the company's arguments didn't fit the criteria for a redo.
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January 29, 2024
Murdaugh Denied Retrial Despite Clerk's 'Foolish' Jury Chats
Disgraced ex-lawyer and convicted murderer Alex Murdaugh was denied a new trial Monday after a judge ruled that a court clerk made "fleeting and foolish comments" to the jury but that there was insufficient evidence that the panel was improperly swayed.
Expert Analysis
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Infrastructure Act Measures Could Affect Holiday Shipping
While some measures in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act will take time to have an impact on shipping, other aspects of the law have the potential to help ease supply chain snarls quickly enough to expedite the movement of goods for the holiday shopping season, say Samuel Basch and Joseph Goldberg at Cole Scott.
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Early ESG Due Diligence Can Minimize Risk, Maximize Reward
Companies can no longer afford to ignore environmental, social and corporate governance due diligence — the risks and rewards have become too great when it comes to pre-deal merger and acquisition transactions, supply chain audits, routine company audits and beyond, says Kimberly Jaimez at Pillsbury.
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6th Circ. ERISA Ruling Highlights Dubious Court Practices
A recent concurring opinion from Sixth Circuit Judge Eric Murphy in Card v. Principal Life Insurance is the first to question remands in Employee Retirement Income Security Act cases, opening a long-overdue dialogue on several questionable court practices that deviate from the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.
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Alleging An LLC's Citizenship With Imperfect Information
Determining a limited liability company's citizenship to establish diversity jurisdiction and remove a case from state court can be difficult when the LLC's owners are unclear, and the Corporate Transparency Act will likely offer only limited help when it takes effect — but the right steps can still get a case to a federal courtroom, say attorneys at King & Spalding.
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9th Circ. Jurisdiction Ruling Guides On Class Action Strategy
The Ninth Circuit's recent decision revoking class certification in Moser v. Benefytt punted on personal jurisdiction questions left by the U.S. Supreme Court’s Bristol-Myers decision, but provides some guidance on how to raise jurisdictional defenses in nationwide class actions, say attorneys at Dechert.
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Humana FLSA Case Shows Risks Of Nurse Misclassification
The recent settlement in O'Leary v. Humana Insurance, a Wisconsin federal court case over the Fair Labor Standards Act employment status of 200 registered nurses, demonstrates the potential long-term and unexpected costs of erroneously classifying employees, says John Dudrey at Stoel Rives.
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FCA Ruling Deepens Circuit Split Over Qui Tam Dismissals
The recent Third Circuit ruling in Polansky v. Executive Health Resources Inc. further widens a split over the standard for government-initiated motions to dismiss qui tam actions under the False Claims Act, and evinces increased scrutiny for motions filed after a defendant has entered the fray, say Kenneth Abell and Katherine Kulkarni at Abell Eskew.
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4 Economic Takeaways From 6th Circ. ProMedica Decision
The Sixth Circuit's recent decision to let ProMedica Health drop insurance contracts with its competitor St. Luke's Hospital highlights economic questions to consider when assessing alleged monopolization, particularly through provider network formation, say Loren Smith and Josephine Duh at The Brattle Group.
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Disability Claim Ruling Holds ERISA Fiduciary Duty Lessons
A Massachusetts federal court’s recent disability claim ruling in Host v. First Unum Life Insurance admonished the defendant for breaching its Employee Retirement Income Security Act fiduciary duties when it failed to conduct an independent claim investigation, signaling that plan administrators should be wary of relying solely on employer communications, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Sherman.
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Mental Health Parity Act: A Compliance Wake-Up Call
Recent developments, including the U.S. Department of Labor’s settlement with UnitedHealth, suggest that the DOL is taking a renewed and more aggressive approach to enforcing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, say Tim Kennedy and Anne Hall at Hall Benefits Law.
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Insurance Commissioner's Agenda
State insurance commissioners discuss their enforcement and regulation priorities in this Expert Analysis series.
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Takeaways From DC Circ. Medicare Overpayment Ruling
The D.C. Circuit's recent decision in UnitedHealth v. Becerra, reinstating a rule that requires Medicare Advantage organizations to refund certain overpayments, is a near-complete victory for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, but arguably abandons the rule's negligence standard, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.
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Why The Future Of Telehealth Parity Remains Murky
Though the federal government, states and private insurers have united during the pandemic in recognizing the value of expanding telehealth access, there is no consensus on the merits of long-term telehealth parity, say Adriana Riviere-Badell and Alexandria Swette at Kobre & Kim.