The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit affirmed today
Judge Moreno’s December 12, 2000 decision concerning the arbitration of claims
in various HMO agreements with Plaintiff physicians. The decision, considered
favorable to the Plaintiff physicians, allows In Re Managed Care to go forward
with an arbitration requirement only for those claims related to specific
arbitration provisions signed by both parties and not appropriate for punitive
damages. In situations involving litigants not signatories to specific
arbitration agreements, the Defendant HMO’s are not permitted to use the RICO
claims of the Plaintiff caregivers to force arbitration. The complete opinion of
the Eleventh Circuit panel is available at
www.hmocrisis.com as well as
www.ca11.uscourts.gov. Judge
Moreno’s December 12, 2000 Order is available at
www.flsd.uscourts.gov
According to Weiss
Ratings, Inc., an independent financial ratings agency, the HMO industry in
general posted profits of over $500 million dollars in the first six months of
2001. The $503 million dollar profit is a 16% increase over profits noted for
the first six months of the previous calendar year. Improved results were
related to premium increases as well as the departure of many plans from
unprofitable markets as well as plan mergers. For a detailed report on the Weiss
Ratings study please go to www.ama-assn.org