Legal & Regulatory Issues

The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York has granted preliminary approval of a $350 million settlement that would resolve a class-action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group by the American Medical Association and others, according to an…

Use of Medicare-covered services varies by as much as 30 percent from region to region and fraud and abuse may drive some of the highest reported service use, according to a new report by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

A class-action lawsuit alleging that the Florida violated Medicaid requirements, resulting in thousands of children receiving inadequate medical and dental care, according to a report by the Associated Press.

SCCI Hospitals has paid $830,000 to settle claims that its Detroit facility overbilled Medicare for services, according to a report by WLNS News.

Mercy Medical Center-Sioux City (Iowa) has agreed to pay the U.S. government $400,000 to settle allegations that the hospital overcharged federal healthcare programs for care for heart patients, according to a report in the Des Moines Register.

Rajashaker Reddy, MD, owner of Reddy Solutions in Atlanta, was arraigned in U.S. District Court on charges including wire fraud, mail fraud and healthcare fraud, according to a report in The Bulletin.

The Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has approved the continuation of deeming authority for The Joint Commission's hospital accreditation program through July 15, 2014, according to a Joint Commission news release.

The 2,074-page Senate health reform bill, released Nov. 18, proposes a sweeping set of changes in the Medicare program, according to a report in Health Affairs.

The Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City is denying that it had any knowledge of its former CEO's alleged involvement in a kickback scheme to steer hospital business toward a certain vendor, according to a report by Crain's…

Clark County (Nev.) Commissioners are considering several options to assist financially-troubled University Medical Center in Las Vegas, including a possible sale, according to a report in the Las Vegas Sun.