Newswatch

US Files False-Claim Complaint Against Medicare Advantage Companies, Brokers

The Department of Justice filed a complaint under the False Claims Act on May 1 against three health insurance companies and three large insurance brokerage organizations, alleging that hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks were paid by the insurance companies to the brokers in exchange for enrollments into their Medicare Advantage plans.

The insurer defendants are Aetna Inc., and its affiliates, Humana Inc., and Elevance Health Inc. (formerly known as Anthem). The broker defendants are eHealth Inc. and one of its affiliates, GoHealth Inc., and SelectQuote Inc. According to the complaint, the kickbacks were allegedly paid out from 2016 through at least 2021.

DOJ explained in a press release that the Medicare Advantage Program beneficiaries may choose to enroll in plans offered by private insurance companies, and many of those beneficiaries rely on brokers to help them choose the best plan to meet their needs.

“Rather than acting as unbiased stewards, the defendant brokers allegedly directed Medicare beneficiaries to the plans offered by insurers that paid brokers the most in kickbacks, regardless of the suitability of the MA plans for the beneficiaries,” the DOJ stated in its press release.

“According to the complaint, the broker organizations incentivized their employees and agents to sell plans based on the insurers’ kickbacks, set up teams of insurance agents who could sell only those plans, and at times refused to sell MA plans of insurers who did not pay sufficient kickbacks.”

DOJ also alleged that Humana and Aetna conspired with the brokers to discriminate against beneficiaries with disabilities deemed to be less profitable by allegedly threatening to withhold the kickbacks to the brokers.

“Health care companies that attempt to profit from kickbacks will be held accountable,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Michael Granston of the Justice Department’s Civil Division. “We are committed to rooting out illegal practices by Medicare Advantage insurers and insurance brokers that undermine the interests of federal health care programs and the patients they serve.”

The lawsuit was originally filed under whistleblower provisions under the False Claims Act, which permits the United States to intervene and take over the action.

“The alleged efforts to drive beneficiaries away specifically because their disabilities might make them less profitable to health insurance companies are even more unconscionable,” said U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley for the District of Massachusetts. “Profit and greed over beneficiary interest is something we will continue to investigate and prosecute aggressively. This office will continue to take decisive action to protect the rights of Medicare beneficiaries and vulnerable Americans.”

According to the complaint, violations of the False Claims Act carry mandatory civil penalties per claim, and three times the amount of the government’s damages sustained due to the defendant’s actions.

Kuwait Frees 10 More Americans, Bringing Total to 47 in Trump’s First 100 Days

A total of 47 Americans have been freed in Trump’s first 100 days—an unusually rapid pace for overseas detainee releases.

Kuwait has released an additional 10 American detainees, U.S. officials confirmed on Thursday, bringing the total number of Americans freed during President Donald Trump’s first 100 days in office to 47.

“10 more Americans are coming home after being imprisoned in Kuwait all thanks to [President Donald Trump],” Boehler wrote in a post on social media. “This brings the total to 23 people released since March. I want to thank the government of Kuwait for their responsiveness and goodwill.”

Kuwait, a U.S. ally with a longstanding military partnership dating back to the 1991 Gulf War, has held a number of American military contractors and veterans for years on drug-related charges and other offenses. Families and advocates have alleged widespread abuse, including coerced confessions and trumped-up charges levied by corrupt law enforcement.

Among those freed on Wednesday was Tony Holden, a Memphis-based HVAC technician and longtime defense contractor who had worked in support of Camp Arifjan, a major U.S. military installation in Kuwait that serves as a logistics hub for American forces in the region.

Holden’s supporters say he was “set up by corrupt Kuwaiti police looking to earn bonuses,” that he was coerced into signing a written confession in Arabic, and that his wife and daughter were physically threatened during the ordeal. They say his drug possession charge and sentence came in spite of his testing negative in a drug test and abstaining for religious reasons from drug and alcohol use.

In a video message following his release, Holden thanked Trump directly.

“There have been a lot of people behind the scenes who have done a lot of great work,” Holden said. “I wanted you to hear that directly from me. And again, God bless you and your family.”

The latest group of freed detainees includes both men and women, some of whom had spent years in Kuwaiti prisons. Their release follows a March wave in which 10 Americans were also released shortly after Boehler’s visit to Kuwait. While countries such as Venezuela have released Americans over longer periods of time, it is rare for so many U.S. citizens to be freed in such rapid succession.

Private consultant Jonathan Franks, who represents nine of the 10 Americans released this week, confirmed that all maintained their innocence and said their cases involved no victims and were based on confessions obtained without translation.

Jonathan Franks, a private consultant specializing in cases involving U.S. hostages and detainees, said in a post on X that some of those released by Kuwait were his clients.