Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group requested a whistle-blower case alleging the payer inflated Medicare reimbursements by providing false information on members' health statuses be dismissed, Star Tribune reports.
In March, the Department of Justice intervened in a whistle-blower lawsuit claiming UnitedHealth billed Medicare higher payments for patients by "making patients look sicker than they" were, according to Kaiser Health News. In February, the DOJ intervened in another whistle-blower lawsuit alleging separate but similar claims, and in May the agency stated the second lawsuit's alleged Medicare fraud totaled at least $1 billion.
UnitedHealth argued in a federal court filing Friday the first lawsuit should be dismissed because insurers selling Medicare Advantage plans are not required to ensure data submitted by providers is valid.
"The Department of Justice belatedly has entered a decade-long payment policy discussion between Medicare Advantage plans and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services," the company said in the filing obtained by Star Tribune. "DOJ is flat wrong. [Medicare Advnatage] plans are not, and cannot be, required to undertake the affirmative steps DOJ suggests."
UnitedHealth is expected to file a motion in the second lawsuit soon, the report states.