UnitedHealth Group Plans to Appeal Order to Pay $165 Million
Three UnitedHealth Group insurance companies must pay over $50 million in restitution for Massachusetts consumers and over $115 million in civil penalties to the Commonwealth for misleading consumers. Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell announced the order from Suffolk Superior Court in a January 6 press release.
The three companies owned by UnitedHealth Group are HealthMarkets, Inc. and its subsidiaries, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, and HealthMarkets Insurance Agency, Inc. f/k/a Insphere Insurance Solutions, Inc.
The case dealt with allegations of cheating consumers and violating consumer protection laws, mainly during the years leading up to 2019, when UnitedHealth Group purchased Texas-based HealthMarkets Inc., Christopher Snowbeck of the Minnesota Star Tribune wrote on January 13.
“For years, the defendants preyed on financially vulnerable individuals, deceiving them into buying products they didn’t need or couldn’t afford. This order holds the companies accountable and will provide meaningful restitution to consumers across the Commonwealth,” said AG Campbell in a statement.
“The AG’s office filed a complaint against the three companies in December 2020, when it was headed by Maura Healey, that alleged the companies were violating Massachusetts consumer protection law by misleading customers into buying ‘unnecessary health insurance products,” Madeleine Aitken reported for Boston.com on January 7. “Healey alleged that they cheated more than 15,000 Massachusetts residents out of more than $43.5 million since 2011. The Superior Court found all three defendants liable in April 2022.”
UnitedHealth Group is appealing against the ruling. “We disagree with the Massachusetts court’s latest ruling in the litigation involving the HealthMarkets companies,” a UHG spokesperson said in a statement acquired by Boston.com. “The fundamental errors in this ruling compound those already made by the trial court earlier in this case and have resulted in a decision that is clearly unsupported by the evidence and contrary to established Massachusetts law.”
