When former Harvard President Lawrence H. Summers was pursuing a romantic relationship with a woman he described as a mentee, he turned to a longtime associate for guidance: convicted sex offender Jeffrey E. Epstein.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom this week renewed their request that the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California block the continued federalization and deployment of California National Guard troops in and around Los Angeles. After using isolated incidents of violence in June as a pretext to federalize the California National Guard, the Trump Administration implemented a months-long military occupation of the Los Angeles area, without any justification, and with no apparent end in sight.

El procurador general Nick Brown anunció hoy la creación de una Worker Rights Unit (Unidad de Derechos del Trabajador) para liderar los esfuerzos destinados a defender las protecciones laborales del estado de Washington, líderes en el país, y abordar el robo de salarios.

OAKLAND – Attorney General Rob Bonta joined a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in Talbott v. Trump to support a challenge to President Trump’s executive order seeking to ban transgender individuals from serving in the military in any capacity. The plaintiffs in this case are six active-duty servicemembers and two individuals seeking enlistment.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today joined a coalition of 22 attorneys general and two states in filing a motion for a preliminary injunction to ensure that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) preserves funding for the Solar for All federal grant program while litigation is pending. In August, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced that the agency would terminate the Solar for All program, asserting the agency no longer had statutory authority to administer the funds.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a legal alert to assist California local officials in processing housing development project applications consistently, fairly, and lawfully. Housing development project applications are official requests submitted to local authorities for approval to build new housing projects. The Permit Streamlining Act was enacted in 1977 to streamline and clarify the processing of permits for all development projects.

###### **For Immediate Release: November 14, 2025** **Office of The Attorney General** – Matthew J. Platkin, _Attorney General_ **Division of Law** – Michael C. Walters, _Director _ ###### **For Further Information:** **Media Inquiries-** Allison Inserro, OAGpress@njoag.gov State’s Complaint in Intervention | Settlement Agreement **TRENTON –** Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced today that Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc., which does business as Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, agreed to pay New Jersey $100 million to settle allegations that it fraudulently induced the State to enter into a 2020 contract to administer the State’s employee benefit programs, and then systematically overcharged the State for healthcare claims throughout the life of that contract. Today’s agreement is the State’s largest-ever non-Medicaid False Claims Act settlement. The agreement settles allegations that Horizon violated New Jersey’s False Claims Act (NJFCA), which guards against fraud against the government. While the federal government declined to pursue this matter, the State filed its own Complaint in Intervention in U.S. District Court, alleging three counts of violations of the NJFCA, including fraudulent inducement, presentment of false claims, presentment of false records or statements, as well as claims for breach of contract and unjust enrichment. The complaint has been under seal since it was filed; both the complaint and the settlement were unsealed today. “At a time when everyone is rightly concerned about the cost of their healthcare, it is simply unacceptable that an insurance company would seek to defraud our State and overcharge us while driving up the costs of healthcare for hundreds of thousands of dedicated public servants,” **said Attorney General Platkin**. “We will not hesitate to hold accountable anyone who breaks the law and harms our residents, no matter how big or powerful you are. I would like to thank our legal team and the Treasury Department for investigating this case and delivering historic relief for our residents.” “I want to thank the staff of Treasury’s Division of Pensions and Benefits, who have aggressively investigated this matter since the spring of 2021,” **said New Jersey State Treasurer Elizabeth Maher Muoio.** “The Division has been, and continues to be, laser-focused on enforcing its contracts and ensuring that our health benefits plans and our members are protected.” In 2019, the Division of Pensions and Benefits (DPB) released specifications for a new contract for a third-party administrator (TPA) beginning on January 1, 2020, to manage benefits for the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP) and the School Employees’ Health Benefits Program (SEHBP). For the first time, the requirements for the new contract included a cost-saving mechanism, which Horizon and all other bidders were informed about, known as the “lesser of” provision. Essentially, it meant that the TPA could only charge the State the smaller (or lesser) amount between the rate charged by a provider and the amount negotiated ahead of time between the provider and the TPA. In other words, if a healthcare provider charged $500 for a medical service, and the TPA and provider negotiated a rate of $1,000 for the service, the “lesser of” provision required the TPA to seek reimbursement from the taxpayer-funded health plan in the lower amount of $500, rather than the higher negotiated rate between the TPA and the provider, $1,000. As part of its bid and pursuant to that provision, Horizon promised to ensure that the State would never pay more for healthcare services than the amount a provider charged. However, Horizon never had any intention of adhering to the bid requirements. As alleged in the complaint, Horizon analyzed claims data before submitting a bid for the new contract and found that it could not comply with the “lesser of” requirement. Nevertheless, Horizon bid on the contract anyway, and won. The complaint shows that Horizon executives discussed potentially making the State “whole” later on, if necessary, by retroactively issuing refunds for overbilling. This concealment allowed Horizon to fraudulently secure the multiyear, multibillion-dollar contract and receive nearly $500 million in TPA fees from the State over the next four and a half years. During that time, Horizon submitted over a thousand false claims for payment to the State, as well as false records in support of those claims. Moreover, Horizon knowingly issued numerous fraudulent Explanation of Benefits (EOBs) to members of the health plans, misrepresenting how much the State was paying on their behalf by showing a “Plan Paid” amount equal to providers’ “charged amount,” even when the plans paid more. **What Happened After the 2020 Contract Was Awarded** Around April 2021, DPB, in consultation with the New Jersey Treasurer’s Office, began investigating whether Horizon was violating the 2020 contract by, among other things, failing to provide the requisite navigation and advocacy services (also a new requirement under the 2020 contract) and billing the State for more than what was allowed. Later that year, in November 2021, a group of private parties, called relators, sued pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the NJFCA, which allows relators to file lawsuits on behalf of New Jersey for violations of the NJFCA and to share in certain recoveries. The lawsuit was also brought under federal law on behalf of the federal government, which declined to pursue the matter. Over the course of the next several years, the State conducted a robust investigation of the relators’ claims, but was unable to find evidence to support their specific allegations, aside from certain violations of the 2020 contract that the State had already begun probing in April 2021. On November 7, 2025, to settle the matter, the State filed its Complaint in Intervention based on the findings of its investigation, along with the executed settlement agreement. **Settlement Terms** The $100 million payment shall be made to the State within 25 calendar days of the effective date of the agreement. In addition to the $100 million settlement proceeds, Horizon has stopped engaging in “lesser of” violations and issuing inaccurate EOBs. Horizon has also explicitly agreed, among other things, to fully comply with the “lesser of” provision set forth in its current contract with the State, which it was awarded on December 14, 2023 to serve as the co-TPA of the State’s health plans. The settlement also includes injunctive provisions that include monthly verification reports, daily verification reports, quarterly verification reports, and a verification report from the commencement of the 2024 Contract through December 31, 2025, all to provide DPB with data to verify Horizon’s compliance with “lesser of” under the 2024 Contract. In addition, the settlement established certain requirements for Horizon to follow in the event DPB identifies any 2024 “lesser of” discrepancies or issues. Finally, Horizon shall not engage in any violations of the NJFCA relating to the 2024 Contract or any future contract with DPB, including with respect to the relevant “lesser of” provision. As part of the settlement terms, the State agreed to pay a $12 million relator share to five of the six relators who filed the qui tam complaint – Kevin Lyons, Patrick Colligan, Mark Kovar, Mark Flores, and Vince Flores. The State declined to provide any portion of this relator share to a former Assistant Director of Health Benefits at the DPB, Christin Deacon, who was the DPB administrator for the 2020 contract and had become aware of the fraudulent conduct by Horizon during the course of her duties at the DPB. In addition, this relator share amount is less than the statutory share because the State was unable to find support for relators’ allegations other than those the State was already investigating prior to the filing of relators’ lawsuit. Horizon facilitates the delivery of healthcare to more than three million individuals in New Jersey – including over 750,000 active State employees, early retirees, and their family members – and oversees billions of dollars each year in medical spending. Assistant Attorney General Lara J. Fogel led this matter on behalf of the State, along with Deputy Attorneys General Brian DeVito, Emma Y. Xiao, and Catriona Coffey of the Division of Law’s Affirmative Civil Enforcement Practice Group under the supervision of Deputy Director Sara M. Gregory, and with assistance from Assistant Attorney General Beth Leigh Mitchell of the Division of Law’s Financial Affairs Practice Group under the supervision of Deputy Director Kavin K. Mistry. ###

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today sent a cease and desist order to Flipcause demanding an immediate stop to all its operations, including all solicitations for charitable purposes. Oakland-based Flipcause is a fundraising and community engagement platform designed to help small nonprofits manage donations from a single dashboard. However, Flipcause has delayed transferring donated funds to nonprofits — totaling approximately $500,000 in donations to date.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued a consumer alert reminding consumers, healthcare providers, and credit reporting agencies that in California it remains illegal for medical debt to appear on credit reports. Recently, the Trump Administration’s Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interpretive rule claiming that federal law generally preempts state medical debt laws — it does not. “In California, it is illegal for medical debt to appear on your credit report.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta this week co-led a coalition of 15 attorneys general in filing an amicus brief in support of a challenge to the Trump Administration’s efforts to deport hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans and Haitians by prematurely terminating Temporary Protected Status (TPS). TPS provides temporary legal status to immigrants living in the United States due to dangerous conditions in their home countries.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Government re-opening: “How we treat those with the least among us reveals the character of a country. We are proud to have fought to secure full SNAP benefits for more than 41 million low-income Americans during the unprecedented government shutdown, in the face of disgraceful efforts by President Trump and his Administration to withhold those benefits.

OAKLAND — California Attorney General Rob Bonta today announced that the U.S. Department of Education has backed down from its effort to rescind states’ access to hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for the academic recovery of students following the COVID-19 pandemic. The stipulated agreement, filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, leaves in place the preliminary injunction secured by California and other states until all of the funding at issue in the lawsuit is disbursed, effectively resolving the lawsuit in the states’ favor.

U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich is demanding answers from federal immigration officials about the continued operation of a New Mexico detention facility despite the expiration of its contract more than two weeks ago. The New Mexico Democrat sent a letter to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Acting Director Todd Lyons last week questioning the legal authority for detaining approximately 550 individuals at the Torrance County Detention Facility after the contract between ICE and Torrance County expired Oct. 31, according to a statement released by Heinrich’s office. A Torrance County official confirmed Nov. 3 that no new contract had been established, according to a statement from a coalition of advocacy groups including the ACLU of New Mexico, Innovation Law Lab and the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center. The advocacy groups called on ICE to immediately release detainees, stating the agency is holding people “unlawfully” at the facility. “The lapse in contractual authority for the continued detention and care of immigrants at TCDF is extremely concerning,” Heinrich wrote in the letter. Heinrich said ICE’s own internal policies dictate that contracts for detention bed space “automatically expire if a new option period is not exercised or if the contract or agreement is not renewed.” The policies also require that “all noncitizens and ICE equipment must be removed from the facility on or before the expiration of the period of performance,” according to the senator. According to the ACLU of New Mexico, attorneys for detainees at the facility have confirmed their clients remain at TCDF, which is managed by CoreCivic in Estancia. According to Heinrich, ICE met with Torrance County officials Oct. 27 about a short-term contract extension, but discussions have stalled due to a lack of communication from the agency. Torrance County Manager Jordan Barela told county commissioners Oct. 29 that ICE’s failure to present an amended contract may be related to the current lapse in government funding, Heinrich said. The senator criticized ICE’s communication failures, noting the agency furloughed less than 7% of its workforce at the beginning of the government shutdown and has additional funds at its disposal. “ICE’s public assertion that there is no change to U.S. immigration law or enforcement rings hollow when it is now unclear what the legal justification is for the continued detention of approximately 550 individuals at TCDF,” Heinrich wrote. The advocacy groups cited longstanding concerns about conditions at the facility, including human rights abuses, infrastructural failures such as sewage flooding, racist mistreatment by guards, medical neglect, lack of drinking water and restricted law library access, according to their statement. The groups said these issues have persisted despite ICE increasing the detention population at the facility in 2025. A 2022 report by the Office of the Inspector General documented violations at the facility, according to the advocacy groups. They also referenced a whistleblower report released in 2025 by former TCDF staff that detailed abuse and cover-ups by authorities. Heinrich pointed to what he described as contradictory statements from ICE Acting Assistant Director Sean Hackbarth, who previously told Heinrich that TCDF “is necessary to manage the administrative custody of one of the most highly transient and complex populations of any correctional or detention system in the world.” Heinrich requested ICE confirm whether it intends to renew the agreement with Torrance County or pursue a direct contract with CoreCivic, and asked under what authority ICE is continuing to detain individuals without an active agreement. The senator reiterated his call for ICE to close the facility, but urged the agency to at least transfer all detainees out of TCDF immediately until a contract is extended. ### _Related_

OAKLAND — Amidst escalating attacks against the LGBTQ+ community and gender-affirming care, California Attorney General Rob Bonta today issued guidance outlining protections under California law for medical providers and patients seeking gender-affirming care, as well as obligations for insurers and health plans. California law prohibits healthcare providers and insurers from discriminating or denying healthcare services to a patient for being transgender, nonbinary, gender nonconforming, or intersex, or due to a diagnosis of gender dysphoria.