According to the lawsuit, defendants throughout the Class Period made misrepresentations regarding Ardent Health’s accounts receivable. Defendants publicly reported Ardent Health’s accounts receivable on a quarterly basis. They further stated that Ardent Health employed an active monitoring process to determine the collectability of its accounts receivable, and that this process included “detailed reviews of historical collections” as a “primary source of information.” Further, defendants represented that Ardent Health considered “trends in federal and state governmental healthcare coverage” and that its “management determines [when an] account is uncollectible, at which time the account is written off.” When defendants began to reveal increased claim denials by third-party payors, they downplayed the issue, stating that the increased payor denials were “turning [] more into a slow pay versus not getting paid,” and did not write-off the uncollectible accounts. In addition, defendants represented that Ardent Health maintained professional malpractice liability insurance in amounts “sufficient to cover claims arising out of [its] operations[.]” In truth, Ardent Health did not primarily rely on “detailed reviews of historical collections” in determining collectability of accounts receivable nor did “management determine[] [when an] account is uncollectible.” Instead, Ardent Health’s accounts receivable framework “utilized a 180-day cliff at which time an account became fully reserved.” This allowed Ardent Health to report higher amounts of accounts receivable during the Class Period, and delay recognizing losses on uncollectable accounts. And Ardent Health did not even maintain professional malpractice liability insurance in amounts “sufficient to cover claims arising out of [its] operations[.]” In truth, Ardent Health’s professional liability reserves were insufficient to cover “significant social inflationary pressure in medical malpractice cases the past several years,” which had been an “increasing dynamic year-over-year” in Ardent Health’s New Mexico market.
No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor’s ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.
