Federal antitrust litigation seeks to hold MultiPlan and major insurance companies responsible for alleged coordinated price-fixing scheme leading to under-reimbursement for out-of-network services.
The Association of New Jersey Chiropractors (ANJC) has joined a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) against MultiPlan (recently rebranded to Claritev) and major insurers, including UnitedHealth, Elevance, Humana, Aetna, and Cigna, alleging they conspired to systematically underpay practitioners for reimbursements for out-of-network services, which often fail to even cover operating costs. The ANJC joins the American Medical Association and hundreds of physician practices and facilities nationwide in this growing antitrust litigation.
“For many years, practitioners in New Jersey have been forced to accept increasingly insufficient reimbursements for providing healthcare to out-of-network patients,” said Dr. Steven Clarke, ANJC board president. “This lawsuit is an important step to ensure that practitioners are justly reimbursed for the care they provide, not only today, but also for historical underpayments going back to at least 2015, and end this alleged illegal collusion that hurts patients.”
This lawsuit, filed in the Northern District Court of Illinois in 2024, seeks to end MultiPlan’s alleged anticompetitive scheme that it has operated since at least 2015, and recoup financial damages for practitioners and practices. As of 2024, MultiPlan processes more than 80% of all commercial out-of-network reimbursement claims in the United States. The lawsuits were consolidated before U.S. District Judge Matthew Kennelly. The court also has appointed attorneys to litigate a proposed antitrust class action on the same issues, but a ruling on any proposed class certification is not expected until 2027.
The case has made significant progress, with the Department of Justice filing a statement of interest in March 2025 and the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss in June 2025, allowing the litigation to proceed to discovery. MultiPlan declined to comment on the Justice Department’s filing but said the lawsuits “are without merit and would ultimately increase prices for patients and employers.” Christopher Seeger of Seeger Weiss, a lead attorney for the plaintiffs, in a statement said the Justice Department’s filing validates claims against MultiPlan and health insurer defendants.
