Laboratory Services MSO, LLC et al v. Multiplan, Inc. et al

What the complaint alleges

Laboratory Services MSO, LLC, DE Laboratory LLC, and Laboratory Services LLC (three diagnostic laboratory companies) sued MultiPlan Corp. (now Claritev Corporation), MultiPlan, Inc., Viant, Inc., National Care Network, various Blue Cross and Blue Shield entities, Aetna, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Elevance, and numerous other health insurers and related entities in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants conspired to fix and suppress reimbursement rates for out-of-network healthcare services, using MultiPlan’s common pricing methodology, thereby underpaying providers and violating federal antitrust laws. The complaint incorporates by reference a consolidated master complaint and asserts that the defendants' coordinated conduct artificially depressed prices and contaminated industry-wide benchmark data.

Claims asserted

• Sherman Act section 1 - Horizontal agreements in restraint of trade (15 U.S.C. § 1)
• Sherman Act section 1 - Hub-and-spoke agreement in restraint of trade (15 U.S.C. § 1)
• Sherman Act section 1 - Principal-agent combinations in restraint of trade (15 U.S.C. § 1)
• Sherman Act section 1 - Agreements to unreasonably restrain trade (15 U.S.C. § 1)
• Sherman Act section 1 - Anticompetitive information exchange (15 U.S.C. § 1)
• Violation of state and D.C. antitrust statutes
• Violation of state consumer protection laws
• Unjust enrichment