Maryland Supreme Court Affirms MSP Recovery’s Assignments, Paving the Way for Class Action Lawsuit Against GEICO
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ: MSPR) has secured a significant legal victory as the Maryland Supreme Court unanimously upheld the validity of the company's claim assignments from Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). This ruling enables MSPR to proceed with its federal class action lawsuit against GEICO.
The lawsuit stems from GEICO's alleged systematic failure to reimburse MAOs for injury-related medical claims. Through a court-supervised data-matching process analyzing claims from March 2011 to July 2019, MSP identified numerous instances where GEICO resolved claims but failed to reimburse corresponding MAO payments.
The Court rejected GEICO's challenge based on old doctrines of champerty, maintenance, and barratry, affirming MSP Recovery's assignment-based recovery model. This decision strengthens MSPR's position in pursuing recoveries nationwide and holds significant implications for related litigation across multiple jurisdictions.
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ: MSPR) ha ottenuto una vittoria legale significativa, poiché la Corte Suprema del Maryland ha confermato all'unanimità la validità delle cessioni di crediti dell'azienda da parte delle Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAO). Questa sentenza consente a MSPR di procedere con la sua causa collettiva federale contro GEICO.
La causa deriva dall'accusa che GEICO non abbia sistematicamente rimborsato le MAO per le richieste di risarcimento medico legate a infortuni. Attraverso un processo di confronto dati supervisionato dal tribunale, che ha analizzato le richieste dal marzo 2011 al luglio 2019, MSP ha individuato numerosi casi in cui GEICO ha risolto le richieste ma non ha rimborsato i pagamenti corrispondenti delle MAO.
La Corte ha respinto la contestazione di GEICO basata su antichi principi di champerty, maintenance e barratry, confermando il modello di recupero basato sulla cessione di crediti di MSP Recovery. Questa decisione rafforza la posizione di MSPR nel perseguire i recuperi a livello nazionale e ha importanti implicazioni per le cause correlate in diverse giurisdizioni.
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ: MSPR) ha logrado una victoria legal importante, ya que la Corte Suprema de Maryland confirmó por unanimidad la validez de las cesiones de reclamaciones de la empresa por parte de las Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAO). Este fallo permite a MSPR continuar con su demanda colectiva federal contra GEICO.
La demanda surge de la presunta falla sistemática de GEICO para reembolsar a las MAO por reclamaciones médicas relacionadas con lesiones. Mediante un proceso de comparación de datos supervisado por el tribunal, que analizó reclamaciones desde marzo de 2011 hasta julio de 2019, MSP identificó numerosos casos donde GEICO resolvió reclamaciones pero no reembolsó los pagos correspondientes a las MAO.
El Tribunal rechazó el desafío de GEICO basado en antiguas doctrinas de champerty, maintenance y barratry, afirmando el modelo de recuperación basado en cesiones de MSP Recovery. Esta decisión fortalece la posición de MSPR para buscar recuperaciones a nivel nacional y tiene importantes implicaciones para litigios relacionados en múltiples jurisdicciones.
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ: MSPR)는 메릴랜드 대법원이 메디케어 어드밴티지 조직(MAO)으로부터 회사의 청구권 양도의 유효성을 만장일치로 인정하는 중요한 법적 승리를 거두었습니다. 이 판결로 MSPR는 GEICO를 상대로 한 연방 집단 소송을 진행할 수 있게 되었습니다.
이 소송은 GEICO가 부상 관련 의료 청구에 대해 MAO에 대한 상환을 체계적으로 하지 않았다는 주장에 기인합니다. 2011년 3월부터 2019년 7월까지의 청구 데이터를 법원 감독 하에 비교 분석하는 과정을 통해 MSP는 GEICO가 청구를 해결했으나 해당 MAO 지불금을 상환하지 않은 여러 사례를 확인했습니다.
법원은 오래된 champerty, maintenance, barratry 교리에 근거한 GEICO의 이의를 기각하고 MSP Recovery의 양도 기반 회수 모델을 승인했습니다. 이 결정은 MSPR가 전국적으로 회수를 추진하는 데 있어 입지를 강화하며, 여러 관할 구역에서 관련 소송에 중대한 영향을 미칩니다.
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ : MSPR) a obtenu une victoire juridique importante, la Cour suprême du Maryland ayant confirmé à l'unanimité la validité des cessions de créances de la société par les Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAO). Cette décision permet à MSPR de poursuivre son action collective fédérale contre GEICO.
Le procès découle de l’allégation selon laquelle GEICO aurait systématiquement omis de rembourser les MAO pour les réclamations médicales liées à des blessures. Grâce à un processus de rapprochement des données supervisé par le tribunal, analysant les réclamations de mars 2011 à juillet 2019, MSP a identifié de nombreux cas où GEICO a réglé des réclamations sans rembourser les paiements correspondants aux MAO.
La Cour a rejeté la contestation de GEICO fondée sur d’anciennes doctrines de champerty, maintenance et barratry, confirmant le modèle de recouvrement basé sur les cessions de MSP Recovery. Cette décision renforce la position de MSPR dans ses démarches de recouvrement à l’échelle nationale et a des implications majeures pour les litiges connexes dans plusieurs juridictions.
MSP Recovery (NASDAQ: MSPR) hat einen bedeutenden juristischen Erfolg erzielt, da der Oberste Gerichtshof von Maryland einstimmig die Gültigkeit der Forderungsabtretungen des Unternehmens von Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) bestätigt hat. Dieses Urteil ermöglicht es MSPR, seine bundesweite Sammelklage gegen GEICO fortzusetzen.
Die Klage resultiert aus dem Vorwurf, dass GEICO systematisch versäumt hat, MAOs für verletzungsbezogene medizinische Forderungen zu erstatten. Durch einen gerichtlich überwachten Datenabgleichsprozess, der Ansprüche von März 2011 bis Juli 2019 analysierte, identifizierte MSP zahlreiche Fälle, in denen GEICO Forderungen geregelt, aber die entsprechenden MAO-Zahlungen nicht erstattet hat.
Das Gericht wies GEICOs Einwand basierend auf veralteten Rechtsgrundsätzen von Champerty, Maintenance und Barratry zurück und bestätigte das auf Abtretungen basierende Rückgewinnungsmodell von MSP Recovery. Diese Entscheidung stärkt die Position von MSPR bei der bundesweiten Durchsetzung von Rückforderungen und hat bedeutende Auswirkungen auf verwandte Rechtsstreitigkeiten in mehreren Gerichtsbarkeiten.
- Unanimous Maryland Supreme Court victory validates MSPR's business model and assignments
- Legal pathway cleared to proceed with class action lawsuit against major insurer GEICO
- Court-supervised data matching revealed substantial evidence of GEICO's non-compliance
- Ruling strengthens company's nationwide assignment-based recovery strategy
- Extended legal process required to validate basic business model
- Recovery timeline remains uncertain pending full class action certification and trial
Insights
Maryland court ruling validates MSP Recovery's business model, clearing path for potentially substantial recovery from GEICO in Medicare reimbursement lawsuit.
The Maryland Supreme Court's unanimous decision represents a significant legal victory for MSP Recovery, validating the company's fundamental business model of acquiring and enforcing reimbursement claims from Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs). By rejecting GEICO's challenge based on centuries-old legal doctrines of champerty and maintenance, the court has eliminated a major legal obstacle in MSP's pursuit of what could be substantial recoveries through class action litigation.
The ruling has multi-layered implications. First, it preserves MSP's standing to pursue the pending class action against GEICO in federal court, where the company seeks reimbursement for thousands of conditional payments made by MAOs that GEICO allegedly should have covered as the primary payer. Second, it strengthens MSP's position in similar litigation across other jurisdictions by establishing favorable precedent on the validity of its assignment model.
The court-supervised data matching process revealed a pattern of systematic non-compliance by GEICO with Medicare Secondary Payer Act requirements. This finding suggests the potential scale of recovery could be substantial, as the analysis covered an eight-year period (2011-2019) and identified numerous instances where GEICO resolved injury claims without reimbursing the corresponding MAO payments.
For investors, this ruling addresses one of the most persistent legal challenges to MSP's recovery model. While the ultimate financial impact remains contingent on class certification and trial outcomes, the decision removes significant uncertainty about MSP's ability to pursue its recovery strategy in Maryland and potentially strengthens its position in similar litigation nationwide. The ruling validates the company's core business proposition of enforcing Medicare secondary payer requirements against primary insurers who have allegedly shifted costs to taxpayers and the Medicare system.
MIAMI, July 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- MSP Recovery, Inc. (NASDAQ: MSPR) (“MSP Recovery” or the “Company”), a Medicare, Medicaid, commercial, and secondary payer reimbursement recovery and technology leader, announces a major legal victory before the Supreme Court of Maryland.i
The Court – the highest in the State of Maryland – upheld the validity of MSP Recovery’s claim assignments from Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), rejecting arguments that the Company’s assignment model violated Maryland public policy. The ruling enables MSP Recovery to proceed with its long-standing federal class action lawsuit against Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO), one of the largest auto liability insurers in the nation.
The case stems from two consolidated federal class actions filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, where MSP Recovery, acting through its affiliates, seeks to recover thousands of conditional payments made by MAOs for medical expenses that GEICO was legally obligated to reimburse as the primary payer under the Medicare Secondary Payer (MSP) Act. After the federal court rejected GEICO’s standing challenge and denied GEICO’s motion for summary judgment, it certified a legal question to the Maryland Supreme Court regarding whether MSP’s assignments were void under Maryland’s public policy.
In a resounding and unanimous decision, the Maryland Supreme Court held that the assignments were valid and enforceable. The Court rejected GEICO’s reliance on centuries-old doctrines of champerty, maintenance, and barratry, affirming that such concepts have no modern application under Maryland law. In doing so, the Court upheld the right of MAOs to assign reimbursement claims to entities like MSP Recovery for enforcement and recovery.
“This ruling from Maryland’s highest court is a landmark affirmation of our model and mission,” said John H. Ruiz, Founder and CEO of MSP Recovery. “For years, insurers like GEICO have refused to comply with federal law by failing to reimburse Medicare Advantage plans, shifting the burden to taxpayers and Medicare itself. This decision clears a major hurdle and allows our case to proceed toward full class action certification and, ultimately, trial.”
The class action, which remains pending, seeks to hold GEICO accountable for systematically failing to reimburse Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) for injury-related medical claims, despite being legally obligated to do so under federal law. As outlined in MSP Recovery’s filings, including its brief to the Maryland Supreme Court and its pending motion for class certification, the Court directed the parties to conduct a court-supervised data-matching process to identify instances of non-reimbursement. In response, MSP conducted a comprehensive data matching analysis using GEICO’s first- and third-party claims data spanning from March 2011 to July 2019. The multi-step matching protocol relied on unique identifiers—such as Social Security numbers and dates of injury—to compare MAO paid medical claims against GEICO’s bodily injury settlements. This process revealed a substantial number of matches where GEICO had resolved claims but failed to reimburse the corresponding payments made by MAOs. MSP asserts that these findings, reviewed by third-party experts and conducted under rigorous methodological standards, support their contention that GEICO’s failures were not isolated incidents, but indicative of a broader, systemic pattern of non-compliance with the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. Notably, and as previously announced by the Company, MSP has had a substantial number of additional claims assigned to it since the data matching.
GEICO responded by, among other things, challenging the enforceability of MSP Recovery’s assignments—an argument now rejected by Maryland’s highest court. This Maryland Supreme Court ruling not only preserves MSP Recovery’s ability to pursue recovery for its healthcare clients in Maryland but also reinforces the broader legality of its nationwide assignment-based recovery strategy. As GEICO and other major insurers face mounting exposure for years of non-compliance, the ruling is expected to have implications for related litigation across multiple jurisdictions.
“The Medicare Secondary Payer Act was designed to ensure that primary insurers—not taxpayers—shoulder the cost of healthcare for covered injuries,” Ruiz continued. “Today’s decision sends a strong message that legal tactics aimed at avoiding reimbursement obligations will not be tolerated.”
MSP Recovery’s Chief Legal Officer, Frank C. Quesada, added, “This underscores MSP Recovery’s commitment to protecting public healthcare funds and holding primary payers accountable, reimbursing Medicare Advantage Organizations for conditional payments they never should have had to make.”
About MSP Recovery
Founded in 2014, MSP Recovery has become a Medicare, Medicaid, commercial, and secondary payer reimbursement recovery leader, disrupting the antiquated healthcare reimbursement system with data-driven solutions to secure recoveries from responsible parties. MSP Recovery innovates technologies and provides comprehensive solutions for multiple industries including healthcare and legal. For more information, visit: msprecovery.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may generally be identified by the use of words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” and “will” or, in each case, their negative, or other variations or comparable terminology. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. As a result, these statements are not guarantees of future performance or results and actual events may differ materially from those expressed in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement made by MSP Recovery herein speaks only as of the date made. New risks and uncertainties come up from time to time, and it is impossible for the Company to predict or identify all such events or how they may affect it. MSP Recovery has no obligation, and does not intend, to update any forward-looking statements after the date hereof, except as required by federal securities laws. Factors that could cause these differences include, but are not limited to, the Company’s ability to capitalize on its assignment agreements and recover monies that were paid by the assignors; the inability of MSP Recovery to obtain financing and generate revenues sufficient to cover the cost of operations; the inherent uncertainty surrounding settlement negotiations and/or litigation, including with respect to both the amount and timing of any such results; the validity of the assignments of claims to MSP Recovery; the ability to successfully expand the scope of the Company’s claims or obtain new data and claims from the Company’s existing assignor base or otherwise; the Company’s ability to innovate and develop new solutions, and whether those solutions will be adopted by the Company’s existing and potential assignors; negative publicity concerning healthcare data analytics and payment accuracy; and those additional factors included in MSP Recovery’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other reports filed by it with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These statements constitute the Company’s cautionary statements under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
For Media Inquiries:
media@msprecovery.com
For Investor Inquiries:
investors@msprecovery.com
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i Government Employees Insurance Co. v. MAO-MSO Recovery II, LLC, et al., No. 3m/24, slip op. (Md. July 11, 2025).
FAQ
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