UnitedHealth Sues US Over Quality Rating Drop Tied to Phone Call

Affiliates of one of the nation’s largest Medicare Advantage plans sued the Biden administration claiming that their quality rating was unreasonably downgraded after one customer service phone call.

The complaint filed Monday by subsidiaries of insurance giant UnitedHealth Group Inc. alleges the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services downgraded the company’s “Star Ratings” based on an “arbitrary and capricious assessment of how Plaintiffs’ call center handled a single phone call that lasted less than ten minutes.”

The plaintiffs asked the court to act urgently with an injunction to correct the CMS rating, as open enrollment is set to begin Oct. ...