UnitedHealth Beats Class Suit Over Office Surgery Facility Fees

UnitedHealth Group. Inc. defeated a class action by more than 200 doctors who say they weren’t paid facility fees for office-based surgeries, when a New York federal judge ruled that the insurer used reasonable payment systems and followed ERISA plan terms.

UnitedHealth conducted an appropriate review of its health plan terms and reasonably determined that it wasn’t required to pay these additional fees to physicians performing in-office surgeries, Judge J. Paul Oetken of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York held Wednesday. None of the health plan documents in the record had language “plainly requiring” United ...