The attorney general of Kansas joined a coalition of 14 states in opposition to a proposed class-action settlement of a Florida lawsuit providing little compensation to consumers while paying attorneys handling the case nearly $3 million.

Attorney General Derek Schmidt joined a friend-of-the-court brief filed in U.S. District Court in a lawsuit that alleged UnitedHealthcare improperly denied people coverage for the Harvoni hepatitis C treatment.

Under the settlement pending in Florida, Schmidt said, the health insurance company would be released of claims made in the class action or related in any way to hepatitis C drugs or the hepatitis C virus. The vast majority of class-action members would receive little or no financial compensation in the deal, he said, but lawyers engaged in the case would make millions of dollars.

“Consumers should come first in the class-action settlement process,” Schmidt said. “In this case, the proposed settlement is not fair or reasonable and bargains away the claims of the class members.”

The attorney general said consumers would benefit from treatment changes already implemented by UnitedHealthcare, which is among insurance companies hired by the state of Kansas to operate the privatized Medicaid program known as KanCare.

UnitedHealthcare would be required to abandon a requirement policyholders with hepatitis C abstain from alcohol and drugs for six months prior to gaining approval for Harvoni medication.

“We are very pleased to have negotiated this important and valuable concession from United dropping the drug and alcohol abstinence requirements,” attorney Andres Rivero said on behalf of the class. “Elimination of that requirement should ensure that the Harvoni cure reaches all hepatitis C sufferers insured by United.

The company also would set aside $500,000 in order to pay $2,400 to class members no longer covered by the insurer and without coverage for the medication. The law firm bringing the class-action case would be paid about $3 million, the joint brief said.

States other than Kansas supporting the brief were Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Wyoming.