SDNY Judge Jed Rakoff rejected Northwell Health’s bid for insurance coverage for its increased costs and business losses related to the COVID-19 pandemic in a recent decision. As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded, Northwell was inundated with new patients, had increased cleaning costs, and stopped offering outpatient care services and elective procedures. In the ruling, Judge Rakoff held that Northwell was not entitled to coverage under two all-risks commercial property insurance policies.
The federal government declared a COVID-19 emergency on March 13, 2020, and New York State issued orders suspending or severely curtailing operations of certain businesses. In its complaint, Northwell alleged that, while caring for over 100,000 COVID-19 patients, it incurred significant new costs, was forced to cease elective surgeries and close physicians’ practices, and saw fewer hospital admissions and visits. Northwell alleged that the respiratory droplets carrying the coronavirus were “physical objects, carrying a physical substance, that attach to [and] cause harm to property.” Examining several different policy provisions, the Court held that Northwell had failed to establish an entitlement to coverage.
Continue Reading Northwell Loses Bid For COVID-19 Insurance Coverage
In a recent Southern District of New York decision, Judge Jed S. Rakoff examined the original source exception to the False Claims Act’s (“FCA”) public disclosure bar. In United States ex rel. Associates Against Outlier Fraud v. Huron Consulting Group, Inc., 2012 WL 506824 (S.D.N.Y. Feb. 16, 2012), the relator alleged that defendant Huron Consulting, through its control of