Elliott Greenleaf Recovers In Excess of $6.5 Million for Jefferson Health System
As described in a nationally published article in the February 27, 2004 edition of Mealey's Managed Care Liability Report, Elliott Greenleaf obtained a favorable, multi-million dollar settlement of a lawsuit filed by it on behalf of one of the Philadelphia region's largest hospital networks, Jefferson Health System.
Elliott Greenleaf attorneys John M. Elliott, James C. Crumlish, III and Mark J. Schwemler filed suit in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Commerce Court against AmeriChoice of Pennsylvania, Inc. and its parent corporation, UnitedHealth Group, Inc., alleging that they systematically refused to pay, or pay in full, for medical care provided to poor and disabled Medicaid-eligible patients at Jefferson Health System hospitals. The lawsuit was filed after repeated attempts to negotiate a resolution were unsuccessful.
The settlement, providing for an initial cash payment of $5.5 million, resolves claims billing issues which had been adversely affecting a number of Jefferson Health System hospitals for years, including the alleged systematic downgrading of emergency room claims, which caused substantial underpayments to the hospitals. In addition to the $5.5 million cash payment, the settlement provides for the payment of further sums in excess of $1 million to reimburse the hospital for other discrete categories of unpaid and disputed medical claims. |
