Emergency Physician Services of New York v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc.
- John Koeltl
- 1:20-cv-09183
- U.S. District Court · Southern District of New York
- 3
In Emergency Physician Services v. UnitedHealth Group, Judge Koeltl granted defendants’ request to seal and redact commercially sensitive information.
The defendants and TeamHealth plaintiffs, whose confidential business, financial, claims, billing, cost, and reimbursement information may be kept from public disclosure.
What happened
Emergency Physician Services of New York v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. concerns defendants’ request to restrict public access to certain materials filed in the case.
Defendants asked to seal an exhibit and redact limited metrics and financial information from their opposition to the plaintiffs’ request to voluntarily dismiss the case and from a supporting declaration. The information included billed charges, allowed amounts, reimbursement data, and average costs.
The court granted the application because disclosure could cause competitive harm to the parties. Judge John G. Koeltl therefore allowed the exhibit to be sealed and the specified information to be redacted.
The detailed version
- Emergency Physician Services of New York v. UnitedHealth Group, Inc. · No. 1:20-cv-09183
- John Koeltl
- Nov. 18, 2024
Background
The defendants asked the court for permission to seal Exhibit 1 to the declaration of Gregory Jacob and to redact limited information in their opposition to the plaintiffs’ motion for voluntary dismissal without prejudice and in the supporting declaration of Bruce Deal. The request relied on the confidentiality stipulation and protective order in the case.
Requested Restrictions
The materials contained information identified as confidential under the protective order, including information used in an expert report. The information concerned the plaintiffs’ total billed charges for disputed claims, defendants’ total allowed amounts, calculations based on billed charges and Medicare percentages, average charges and allowed amounts per claim, the plaintiffs’ average cost of providing emergency-department care, and average reimbursement payments received per emergency-department visit from various payors, including defendants.
The request stated that disclosure could harm both sides’ bargaining positions in negotiations over payment rates. It also stated that other commercial insurance payors, provider groups, and hospital groups could use the information in negotiations, creating a competitive disadvantage.
Legal Standard and Ruling
The court explained that documents relevant to judicial proceedings generally carry a presumption of public access, but that presumption must be balanced against competing considerations, including privacy interests and the likely injury from disclosure. It concluded that highly sensitive business and financial information, and information whose disclosure could cause competitive harm, can justify sealing or redaction.
The court granted the application. It allowed Exhibit 1 to the Jacob Declaration to be filed under seal and permitted the limited confidential metrics and information in the opposition and Deal Declaration to be redacted. The text provided does not address the merits of the underlying dispute or the plaintiffs’ request for voluntary dismissal.
Read the full 3-page opinion on CourtListener, the free public archive maintained by the Free Law Project.