This week, we have details on the U.S. lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group for allegedly mischarging Medicare Advantage, an update from MIB Life Index on Life Insurance activity levels in April, and information on a bipartisan bill that could expand Medicare to include some long-term care services.
U.S. sues UnitedHealth again for mischarging Medicare Advantage | Reuters | May 16, 2017
The U.S. Justice Department for the second time in a month sued UnitedHealth Group Inc on Tuesday, accusing the nation’s largest health insurer of obtaining over $1 billion from Medicare to which it was not entitled.
The complaint, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, came after the Justice Department brought a separate but similar case against UnitedHealth. In both cases, the government intervened in whistleblower lawsuits against UnitedHealth.
In the lawsuit, the Justice Department alleged that UnitedHealth obtained inflated risk adjustment payments based on untruthful and inaccurate information about the health status of patients enrolled in its Medicare Advantage plans.
Read the full article on Reuters.com here.
U.S. Life Insurance Activity Levels in April | MIB Life Index | May 10, 2017
U.S. individually underwritten life insurance activity showed positive trends this April after three consecutive months of earlier decline. April’s composite MIB Life Index was off slightly, down -0.3% from the same month last year. With a third of the calendar year completed, the MIB Life Index is off -3.4% YTD — showing significant improvement over last month’s Q1 -4.5% YTD close.
See the full update on MIBgroup.com here.
Congress May Open The Door To Some Medicare Long-Term Care | Forbes | May 17, 2017
Congress is taking a small, but important, step towards expanding Medicare to include some long-term supports and services. A bipartisan (yes, bipartisan) measure before the Senate Finance Committee would give some Medicare providers additional flexibility in the way they care for people with chronic conditions, who are among the program’s highest need and highest cost beneficiaries.