Eden-Prairie, Minn.-based Dillman Clinic & Lab and another small health care provider in the state have filed for a preliminary injunction in federal court against UnitedHealth Group over the healthcare giant’s emergency loan repayment demands, The Minnesota Star Tribune reported April 16.
UnitedHealth Group provided $9 billion in interest-free loans to healthcare providers impacted by 2024 major cyberattack at Change Healthcare, a subsidiary of the healthcare giant. The incident affected the data of half of all Americans, according to the report.
Now, United’s Optum division is seeking repayment, sparking an outcry from physicians and physician advocacy groups who are urging Optum to allow individual practices to determine their own repayment timelines. Some physicians have reported that Optum is demanding rapid loan repayments — in some cases within five days — under threat of withheld reimbursements from UnitedHealthcare .
Richard Dillman, practice manager of Dillman Clinic & Lab, whose wife is the clinic’s sole practitioner, told the publication that his practice’s growth was stifled after the cyberattack, he was left wondering whether they would survive at all.
The lawsuits by Dillman and Eden-Prairie, Minn.-based Odom Sports Medicine join two putative class action lawsuits also making their way through the U.S. District Court of Minnesota. In one case, more than 60 plaintiffs are seeking monetary damages and other relief for the alleged loss of privacy and other damages. In a second lawsuit, more than 24 healthcare providers are seeking damages related to the cyberattack.
“As a result of defendants’ conduct, providers have suffered and will continue to suffer substantial harm,” the lawsuit reads, according to the Star Tribune. “The event pushed many providers to the brink of collapse. … Providers will never see compensation for claims that they were unable to submit during the shutdown. … Providers are still in a precarious financial situation due to defendants’ conduct and failures.”
United has filed motions to dismiss both lawsuits, and has not yet responded in court to the motion for a preliminary lawsuit by Dillman and Odom. In a statement to the publication, United said that it believes “these lawsuits are baseless and we intend to defend ourselves vigorously.”
Odom estimates that it still has about $235,000 in outstanding claims accrued from February to August 2024 that it is still trying to process through United that it was unable to submit during the cyberattack.
On April 15, District Judge Donovan Frank set a briefing schedule for filings related to the motion. UnitedHealth Group is set to respond by April 25, per the judge’s order, with oral arguments at a later date.
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