Following a legal challenge of United Healthcare’s Medicare provider cuts from two Connecticut doctors, their counterparts in New York have followed suit.
The Medical Society of the State of New York filed a lawsuit Dec. 23 challenging the insurer’s termination of some of its members’ contracts.
Similar to the legal challenge filed in November by the Hartford County Medical Association and the Fairfield County Medical Association, the New York doctors have also asked for a preliminary injunction against the network cuts.
Doctors here were successful with that request, which the New York society notes in its filing.
A judge in the New York case has yet to rule on the injunction, but Judge Pamela Chen denied the plaintiff’s request for a temporary restraining order on Dec. 23, court records show.
United said in an emailed statement that the denial “prevents unnecessary confusion and uncertainty for our Medicare members in New York.”
As the insurer has stated about its Connecticut cuts, the New York network changes are meant to “encourage higher quality and more affordable Medicare coverage,” it said.
Clarification: The original version of this story has been amended to provide information about the court’s denial of a temporary restraining order against United.
