TeamHealth has been submitting fraudulent claims to get UnitedHealthcare to overpay it by more than $100 million, the insurer argued as it asked a Tennessee federal judge to grant it a partial early win in its suit against the emergency room staffing and billing company.

In a motion for partial summary judgment filed Monday, United HealthCare Services Inc. argued it has sufficiently established standing to pursue claims against TeamHealth Holdings Inc. for itself and on behalf of the self-funded plans it administers under the Employee Retirement and Income Security Act.

The insurer argued it has suffered concrete economic and operational injuries and has the right to sue under ERISA.

"Federal courts across the country — including this court — have repeatedly held that third-party administrators and ERISA fiduciaries possess Article III standing to recover fraudulent overpayments," UnitedHealthcare argued.

Separately on Monday, TeamHealth filed a motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction against United's lawsuit, arguing the insurer lacked standing to bring claims on behalf of its self-funded plans to recover alleged overpayments. TeamHealth also filed a motion for summary judgment, arguing United's claims are barred by the statute of limitations, among other claims.

In its dismissal bid, TeamHealth argued that any award damages for claims don't belong to the insurer and that any damages for alleged overpayments postdate UnitedHealthcare's 2021 lawsuit.

"The court should dismiss the claims United asserts on behalf of the self-funded plans and limit United's available relief at trial to the alleged overpayments on fully-insured claims 2016-2020," TeamHealth argued in its motion to dismiss.

UnitedHealthcare filed its lawsuit in October 2021, alleging TeamHealth submitted fraudulent claims through a method called upcoding, in which it submitted higher-level codes than required by medical standards. This method induced the insurer to overpay by more than $100 million, according to the lawsuit.

The Tennessee court previously shot down TeamHealth's dismissal bid in May 2022. U.S. District Judge Clifton L. Corker found that United had sufficiently alleged its upcoding claims. In November 2025, TeamHealth sought to pause the case pending its appeal of an order denying its motion for a protective order. In December, a magistrate judge turned down TeamHealth's motion to compel discovery.

A spokesperson for TeamHealth said the company stands by its billing code practices.

"As TeamHealth has stated previously, we believe this case is intended to distract from United's own well documented and systematic scheme to underpay clinicians who serve at patients' bedside 24/7, 365 days a year," the spokesperson said. "TeamHealth's clinicians deliver unmatched quality care, and we stand by the integrity of our billing and coding practices."

Representatives of UnitedHealthcare didn't immediately respond to requests for comment Tuesday.

UnitedHealthcare is represented by Michael J. King and Kendell G. Vonckx of Paine Tarwater & Bickers LLP and by Jamie R. Kurtz, Marcus A. Guith, Charley C. Gokey and Paul D. Weller of Robins Kaplan LLP.

TeamHealth is represented by Gary C. Shockley, Caldwell G. Collins and Matthew S. Mulqueen of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC and by Justin C. Fineberg of Lash Goldberg Fineberg LLP.

The case is United Healthcare Services Inc. et al. v. Team Health Holdings Inc. et al., case number 3:21-cv-00364, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee.