Three UnitedHealth-owned insurance companies must pay over $165 million for misleading thousands of customers in Massachusetts into paying for additional health insurance, a state judge has ruled.
Suffolk County Superior Court Judge Hélène Kazanjian said that HealthMarkets, acquired by UnitedHealth in 2019, and two of its subsidiaries had marketed major medical and supplemental insurance in bundles from 2012 to 2016 in a way that deceived consumers into buying supplemental policies, according to Reuters.
UnitedHealthcare has told Newsweek it is appealing the decision. Newsweek has contacted the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office out of hours via email for comment.
Why It Matters
In the wake of the shooting of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, there has been an outpouring of anger towards the insurance industry for denying medical claims, with some going as far as cheering for Thompson’s death and arguing that the shooter was justified in his actions.
What To Know
The UnitedHealth-owned companies had already been found liable for violating the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act, according to Reuters. The judge’s ruling followed a non-jury trial to assess the damages.
Judge Kazanjian said sales agents in the three companies were trained to hide the costs of individual policies so consumers were kept in the dark as to what they were buying, per the outlet.
The judge deemed the companies’ actions “egregious,” adding that it “targeted vulnerable consumers who could least afford their products.”
The collective total of $165 million is the largest civil penalty Massachusetts has ever recovered under the state’s consumer protection law, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said after the ruling, Reuters reported.
Her team had asked for a total of $368 million, so the grand sum fell short of what her team had requested, but she still praised the decision by Judge Kazanjian.
Campbell’s office did not receive the larger sum because the judge concluded that the state had failed to show the extent to which any Massachusetts consumers were harmed by misleading statements the companies made in TV and radio advertisements.
What People Are Saying
Campbell said in a statement, according to Reuters: “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.”
UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth’s health insurance subsidiary, said in a statement shared with Newsweek: “We disagree with the Massachusetts court’s latest ruling in the litigation involving the HealthMarkets companies. 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. We will appeal this decision.”
What’s Next
The details of UnitedHealthcare’s appeal remain to be seen. Lawyers in other states will be assessing the potential for other suits as customers in Massachusetts wait to see if they will receive compensation.
Correction, 1/8/2025, 04:41 a.m. ET: The headline in this article was updated to reflect the fact that UnitedHealth has been ordered to pay. A previous headline suggested the company was going to pay out.
