The View’s Sunny Hostin’s husband, Emmanuel “Manny” Hostin, has been accused of insurance fraud. The surgeon was one of 200 defendants listed in the case, according to court documents viewed by Closer.
Manny, 54, and several others have been accused of billing reimbursements that were the result of “illegal kickbacks and/or unlawful referral relationships to fraudulently bill for medically unnecessary services.” The lawsuit, which was filed on December 17, 2024, also claimed that Manny “knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services including arthroscopic surgeries to Covered Persons through Hostin Orthopaedics that he purportedly performed.” It also alleged that he “fraudulently” billed American Transit, a company that primarily insures Uber, Lyft and taxis, “in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation which were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions.”
The documents also claimed that Hostin “knowingly provided fraudulent medical and other healthcare services including arthroscopic surgeries to Covered Persons through Hostin Orthopaedics that he purportedly performed at one or more of the Surgicore ASCs (Ambulatory Service Centers,) including Empire State ASC, Fifth Avenue ASC, All City ASC, New Horizon ASC, Jersey City ASC, Saddlebrook ASC, and Rockaway ASC, and billed to American Transit through each of those entities in exchange for kickbacks and/or other compensation which were disguised as dividends or other cash distributions for his ‘investment’ in Empire State ASC.”
Daniel Thwaites, Manny’s lawyer, called the lawsuit a “blanket, scattershot, meritless lawsuit by a near-bankrupt insurance carrier” and that Manny “denies each and every allegation,” in a statement given to the Daily Mail.
“It is meant to intimidate and harass doctors from collecting for care given to American Transit insureds and their passengers,” Thwaites told the outlet. “American Transit has rushed into the lawsuit without ever conducting an examination of Dr. Hostin or expressing any concerns to his lawyers. The real story here is about an insurance carrier abusing the legal system to limit and restrict health care benefits to its insureds and their passengers, and write off its proper obligations.”
Sunny, 53, and Manny met at church located in Maryland, and he graduated from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1996. Two years later, the two officially tied the knot. Manny received his New York State medical license in 2002 and has been affiliated with some of the top hospitals in the state, including Mount Sinai Morningside and Mount Sinai West.
Sunny, who is a lawyer and works as one of ABC News’ legal correspondents, and Manny went on to have two children, Gabriel and Paloma. In September 2024, she opened up about how she and Manny reacted differently to dropping off Paloma, 18, at college.
“On August 19, I dropped my kid off at school,” Sunny said during the September 9, 2024, episode of The View’s “Behind the Table” podcast. “And then I had a breakdown, and I’m crying in the hotel room because she cried. And had she not cried, Paloma, I would not have cried, I was almost OK. So, I’m going through that.”
However, Sunny revealed that Manny had a different take on the situation and said that he thought Paloma heading off to college was “great.”
