Class action suit over UnitedHealth’s AI care denials nears key moment For plaintiffs who are sick or injured, the case has a sense of urgency

https://www.statnews.com/2025/02/07/unitedhealth-class-action-lawsuit-ai-care-denials-nears-key-decision/?utm_campaign=morning_rounds&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--FwcyjXGKoGtyqFaIXwneGpNu1TgCl_WDMogUdoWNK6KREqiwZaAnK0FzRIHjyQmxl3V9Qom6ZFEfVWCxds9ktRKLjLg&_hsmi=346170968&utm_content=346170968&utm_source=hs_email A federal judge will soon decide whether a class action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group and a subsidiary over algorithm-based care denials can move forward. If it does, the suit (filed in 2023 following STAT’s reports) could open the door for attorneys to sift through the company’s internal communications, our Bob Herman reports. These kinds of big lawsuits can take years to make their way through the courts but, in this case, there’s a sense of urgency – many of the alleged victims are elderly and ill. Zach Baron, director of the Center for Health Policy and the Law at Georgetown’s O’Neill Institute, told Bob it’s difficult to predict the outcome because of the scant legal precedent governing a technology like AI and a longstanding public benefit like Medicare. “Regardless of what the judge decides here, it’s not going to be the final word on this, just given where we are with the state of the law and new technologies,” Baron said. UnitedHealth has denied the allegations that its technology was the only basis for whether a patient received care. Get into the details, in Bob’s story.