Emergency Physician Servs. of N.Y. v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc.
Emergency Physician Servs. of N.Y. v. UnitedHealth Grp., Inc.
2023 WL 3160115 (S.D.N.Y. 2023)
April 28, 2023
Netburn, Sarah, United States Magistrate Judge
Summary
The Court denied Defendants' request to compel Plaintiffs to produce documents related to Blackstone's profit seeking motivation, Plaintiffs' decision to select Defendants as the third-party administrator of their health benefit plan, and performance metrics relevant to the value of Plaintiffs' services.
Additional Decisions
EMERGENCY PHYSICIAN SERVICES OF NEW YORK, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP, INC., et al., Defendants
v.
UNITEDHEALTH GROUP, INC., et al., Defendants
20-CV-09183 (JGK)(SN)
United States District Court, S.D. New York
Signed April 28, 2023
Counsel
Justin C. Fineberg, Lash & Goldberg LLP, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Jonathan Eric Siegelaub, United States District Court Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, FL, Wendy Helene Schwartz, Michelle Maguire Sloss, Neil Stephen Binder, Sarah Dowd, Binder & Schwartz LLP, New York, NY, David R. Ruffner, Erin R. Griebel, Jason A. Coe, Michael L. Ehren, Lash & Goldberg LLP, Miami, FL, for Plaintiffs Emergency Physician Services of New York, Exigence Medical of Binghamton, Buffalo Emergency Associates.Wendy Helene Schwartz, Michelle Maguire Sloss, Neil Stephen Binder, Sarah Dowd, Binder & Schwartz LLP, New York, NY, David R. Ruffner, Erin R. Griebel, Jason A. Coe, Michael L. Ehren, Lash & Goldberg LLP, Miami, FL, Jonathan Eric Siegelaub, United States District Court Southern District of Florida, Fort Lauderdale, FL, for Plaintiff Emergency Care Services of New York.
Blake Thomas Denton, Latham & Watkins LLP, New York, NY, Ethan M. Scapellati, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, New York, NY, Dimitri Portnoi, Adam Levine, Nadia L. Farjood, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, CA, K. Lee Blalack, II, Anwar Graves, Brian David Boyle, Gregory Frederick Jacob, Hannah Dunham, Kevin Feder, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, DC, Elizabeth R. Marks, Latham & Watkins LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendant UnitedHealth Group, Inc.
Blake Thomas Denton, Latham & Watkins LLP, New York, NY, Ethan M. Scapellati, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, New York, NY, Adam Levine, Nadia L. Farjood, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, CA, Anwar Graves, Brian David Boyle, Gregory Frederick Jacob, Hannah Dunham, Kevin Feder, O'Melveny & Myers LLP, Washington, DC, Elizabeth R. Marks, Latham & Watkins LLP, Boston, MA, for Defendants UMR, Inc., United HealthCare Services, Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, Oxford Health Plans LLC, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company.
Netburn, Sarah, United States Magistrate Judge
ORDER
*1 Defendants request the Court to compel Plaintiffs to produce documents showing (1) that Blackstone is entitled to receive Plaintiffs' profits, (2) Plaintiffs' decision to select Defendants as the third-party administrator of their health benefit plan, and (3) performance metrics relevant to the value of Plaintiffs' services. ECF No. 409. Plaintiffs oppose the motion. ECF No. 417.
The Court denies Defendants' request for documents showing Blackstone receives any portion of Provider Plaintiffs' profits. This case is not about Blackstone, and information related to its profit seeking motivation is not relevant to the issues, claims, or defenses in this case. To the extent Defendants seek further information on Blackstone's relationship with Plaintiffs, they have already exhausted discovery on this issue.
The Court denies Defendants' request for documents related to TeamHealth Plaintiffs' decision to select Defendants as the third-party administrator of their employee health benefit plan. Any discovery related to a decision Plaintiffs made over 20 years ago is not proportional to the needs of the case and has no bearing as to how either party established doctors' rates during the relevant period. The Court further understands that EquityHealthcare intends to produce documents related to TeamHealth's 2020 decision to terminate United as its administrator. No further relief is warranted.
The Court denies Defendants' request for documents showing the performance metrics of physicians. Defendants have failed to establish that performance metrics and quality analyses maintained by medical facilities is material to the core question in this case related to reasonable reimbursement rates. Moreover, Plaintiffs have already produced 57 performance dashboard reports for 11 of the facilities relevant to this action. ECF No. 417 at 3. Any further discovery on this topic is not proportional to the needs of the case.
CONCLUSION
Defendants' requests for relief are DENIED.
SO ORDERED.