Dowd Bennett LLP and ArentFox Schiff LLP Helped Secure Approximately $8.1 Million Judgment for Dialysis Providers in ERISA and Medicare Secondary Payer Act Litigation
Arsenio L. Mims, together with co-counsel from ArentFox Schiff LLP, represented Bio-Medical Applications of Missouri, Inc., Bio-Medical Applications of New Jersey, Inc., Fresenius Medical Care Montclair, LLC, Fresenius Medical Care Belleville, LLC, NNA-Saint Barnabas, LLC, and NNA of Harrison, LLC, collectively FMCNA, in federal litigation against the Prime Healthcare Welfare Benefits Plan and related entities. FMCNA challenged the Plan’s refusal to cover chronic end-stage renal disease dialysis after 39 treatments, asserting claims under ERISA and the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. After granting summary judgment to FMCNA, on September 29, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri entered judgment awarding approximately $8.1 million in total damages, more than $560,000 in attorneys’ fees and costs, and pre- and post-judgment interest against the Plan and Prime Healthcare Services, Inc. The court also granted declaratory relief addressing the Plan’s obligation to cover chronic dialysis and remain primary to Medicare during the applicable 30-month coordination period, while limiting the ERISA declaratory relief to the eight patients at issue.