The U.S. Supreme Court Thwarts the Potential Barrage of Lawsuits Filed Against HMOs

To allow a broad-based attack on HMOs under federal law would result in “nothing less than elimination of the for-profit HMO,” writes United States Supreme Court Justice David Souter.

“…The court’s action would thwart another line of legal attack on HMOs: a raft of class action lawsuits filed in recent months by some of the same plaintiffs’ attorneys who successfully sued the tobacco company.”

As espoused in an article printed in the June 13th edition of The Washington Post, the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a unanimous ruling in the case of Pegram v. Heidrich on June 12th reaffirming the ability of health management organizations to provide financial incentives, to doctors, to keep the cost of health care low.

Click on the following link for the details of The Washington Post article entitled, “High Court Hands HMOs A Victory: Ruling Limits Patients’ Right to Sue on the Federal Level.”