UnitedHealthcare slapped the Guardian with a defamation lawsuit over a story by the publication related to its billing for nursing home residents.
At issue is the Guardian’s May 21 story, which alleged that the health care giant made secret payments to nursing homes to reduce hospital transfers in an effort to save money.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Delaware Superior Court late Wednesday, claims that the Guardian had knowingly published “demonstrably false” information and tried to capitalize on media interest in the killing of its then-CEO Brian Thompson last year in New York.
The health care company alleged that the Guardian used internal emails — from which it published excerpts — that were quoted out of context. UnitedHealthcare also disputed some of the Guardian’s characterizations of medical events detailed in its exposé
“The Guardian knowingly published false and misleading claims about our Institutional Special Needs Program, forcing us to take action to protect the clinician-patient relationship that is crucial for delivering high-quality care,” a rep for UnitedHealthcare claimed. “The Guardian refused to engage with the truth and chose instead to print its predetermined narrative.”
A rep for the Guardian shot back at UnitedHealthcare’s lawsuit, telling The Post that it stands by its May 21 reporting and that it intends to defend itself in court.
“The Guardian stands by its deeply-sourced, independent reporting, which is based on thousands of corporate and patient records, publicly filed lawsuits, declarations submitted to federal and state agencies, and interviews with more than 20 current and former UnitedHealth employees — as well as statements and information provided by UnitedHealth itself over several weeks,” the rep claimed.
“It’s outrageous that in response to factual reporting on the practice of secretly paying nursing homes to reduce hospitalizations for vulnerable patients, UnitedHealth is resorting to wildly misleading claims and intimidation tactics via the courts,” he added.
In the story, the Guardian claimed internal emails revealed that UnitedHealth supervisors gave their teams “budgets” showing how many hospital admissions they had “left” to use up on nursing home patients.
The outlet also reported that leaked emails showed that the company also monitored nursing homes that had smaller numbers of patients with “Do not resuscitate” and “Do not intubate” orders in their files.
“The article used a heavily cropped screenshot of an internal UnitedHealth email to knowlingly and falsely accuse UnitedHealth of coercing nursing home residents into signing ‘do not resuscitate’ papers as a ‘cost cutting tactic … even when patients had clearly expressed a desire that all available treatments be used to keep them alive.’ This is unquestionably defamatory,” the lawsuit alleged.
“The Guardian knew these accusations were false, but published them anyway, brazenly trying to capitalize on the tragic and shocking assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s then-CEO, Brian Thompson,” the suit added.
Thompson was gunned down on a Manhattan sidewalk on Dec. 4 last year.
Accused killer Luigi Mangione, 27, was arrested and has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges.
The embattled UnitedHealthcare has been in the hot seat in recent weeks.
The Department of Justice revealed in May that it is investigating UnitedHealthcare for Medicare fraud.
Shares of the insurance company have cratered nearly 26% in the last month as a result.
