1. U of Iowa healthcare workers owed damages for delayed pay, federal court rules
A federal judge on March 29 ruled that University of Iowa hospitals owe damages to healthcare workers for delayed overtime pay.
2. UnitedHealth working to avoid class-action lawsuit from 1K independent pharmacies
UnitedHealth Group is working to avoid a major class-action lawsuit from around 1,000 independent pharmacies nationwide for alleged under-reimbursements totaling more than $100 million.
3. Hospitals can use Equifax to gauge patients’ propensity to pay, court rules
Hospitals can use financial reports from Equifax and other credit reporting agencies to help determine a patient’s propensity to pay medical debt under Medicare rules, a federal district court ruled March 29.
4. Connecticut ambulance company to pay $600K to settle improper claim allegations
A Connecticut ambulance company agreed to pay $600,000 to settle allegations that it submitted improper claims to Medicare and Medicaid.
5. Court sides with HHS in Indiana hospitals’ challenge to Medicare payment calculation
A lawsuit filed by two Indiana hospitals over a Medicare payment calculation was properly dismissed by an HHS appeal board, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled March 25.
6. Cardiologist sues Epic over copyright dispute
A cardiologist at Kansas City, Mo.-based Saint Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute filed a lawsuit against Epic Systems, alleging that the company has been reproducing and distributing some of his copyrighted materials without a license.
7. Home health agency agrees to pay MassHealth $6.53M to settle fraud case
Compassionate Homecare, a home health company, will pay $6.53 million to resolve a lawsuit that alleged it billed MassHealth for services that were not authorized by a physician.
8. Justice Department to join whistleblower lawsuit against EHR vendor, CEO
The Justice Department filed a notice that it will join a whistleblower lawsuit against EHR vendor Modernizing Medicine and its CEO and co-founder, Daniel Cane.
9. Scripps Health faces lawsuit in the aftermath of the Kronos data breach
San Diego-based Scripps Health employees filed a lawsuit against the health system after the Kronos data breach affected their pay.
10. CVS reaches $484M opioid settlement with Florida
CVS Health on March 30 said it has reached a $484 million agreement with the state of Florida to resolve all claims related to opioid prescriptions at its pharmacies.
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