Elevance Health says a rival hired away seven of its key staff and that some allegedly left with confidential files for its Medicare-Medicaid plans. 

Elevance Health filed a complaint on July 27, 2026, in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York against managed care organization Hamaspik, Inc. and four of its own former employees. 

According to the filing, Hamaspik has run a "coordinated scheme" since December 2025 to hire the people who run Elevance's New York Managed Long-Term Care (MLTC) and Fully Integrated Dual Eligible Special Needs (FIDE) plans, which combine Medicare and Medicaid coverage in a single product. The complaint alleges Hamaspik hired "no less than seven" former Elevance staff, each now performing the same or substantially similar work for the competitor. 

Elevance alleges the aim is to "recreate, at a fraction of the cost," the operation it built after buying Centers Plan for Healthy Living and a related business effective December 31, 2024, for what the complaint describes as "hundreds of millions of dollars." 

The filing alleges that highly paid staff accept post-employment restrictions in exchange for stock rights. Two of the individual defendants - a former director who oversaw FIDE operations and a former claims director - allegedly agreed not to take a "Competitive Position" with a rival for the greater of their severance period or twelve months, and to notify Elevance's chief human resources officer within five business days of any competing offer. Neither gave that notice, according to the complaint. 

The complaint also alleges that the former FIDE operations director sent at least nine emails to a personal account on June 21 and 22, 2026, one of them carrying 53 attachments, and took "approximately 192 documents" before resigning. Those allegedly included a proprietary health-risk-assessment workflow, a roughly 193-page "D-SNP Model of Care" that the filing calls "the complete operational blueprint" for such a plan, and an internal "Stars Overview" tied to the CMS star ratings that affect bonus payments. The filing further alleges that a former sales manager emailed himself a "more than 400-page" events tracker along with compensation and forecast documents, and that a former network director emailed herself template provider agreements, training materials and rate information. 

Elevance alleges the former FIDE operations director's work played a significant role in the plan reaching a five-star CMS rating, which it links to bonus payments and competitive standing, and says that once such methods leave, the advantage cannot be restored. 

The complaint brings eight counts, including breach of non-compete, non-solicitation and confidentiality terms; tortious interference; violation of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act; misappropriation of trade secrets under New York law; unfair competition; and civil conspiracy. Elevance seeks injunctions, the return and deletion of its information, damages and a jury trial. 

No insurance coverage policy is at issue; the operative terms are employment covenants. That is what makes the case a useful reference point for carriers weighing how they protect talent and proprietary processes when a competitor recruits. 

None of the allegations have been tested in court, and no judge has ruled on any of the claims.