UnitedHealth Asserts Dissimilar Treatment in Star Ratings Drop

UnitedHealth Group’s Medicare Advantage quality measure was lowered for a dropped phone call even though a similar plan had the same issue and didn’t face the same consequences, the health-care giant said in newly unsealed filings.

According to court records unsealed Monday by the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, United Health Care alleged that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acted arbitrarily when it “treated Plaintiffs’ MA plans differently than those of another similarly situated health insurer (Elevance Health, Inc.).”

UnitedHealth claims in its motion for summary judgment that although both companies had ...