Legal & Regulatory Issues

The world of value-based care (VBC) is placing an increased focus on health equity goals.

Arkansas' attorney general filed a lawsuit May 11 alleging that drug manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers conspired to artificially drive up the cost of insulin.  

Nashville, Tenn.-based Envision Healthcare is suing UnitedHealth Group, accusing the payer of scheming to underpay front-line healthcare providers and push organizations out of network. 

Boise, Idaho-based St. Luke's Health System filed a lawsuit May 11 related to a March protest over an infant's care that prompted a hospital lockdown.

Three Florida physical therapy clinic owners and a physician were among those sentenced May 10 for their roles in a $17 million medical billing fraud scheme. 

UnitedHealthcare's case against TeamHealth can proceed after a federal  judge in Eastern Tennessee denied the hospital staffing company's motion to dismiss the lawsuit. 

Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals relied on hundreds of physicians to write a "steady stream" of painkiller prescriptions at the height of the opioid epidemic, The Washington Post reported May 10.

Northern Light Acadia Hospital in Bangor, Maine, owes a psychologist nearly $181,000 in back pay, damages and interest related to her claim of gender-based pay discrimination in violation of the state's equal pay law, according to the Bangor Daily News.

Two owners of a nationwide telemedicine company pleaded guilty May 10 to their roles in a $64 million healthcare fraud and kickback scheme.

Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has withdrawn its lawsuit against the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.