An antitrust lawsuit filed by a radiology group against benefits management firm CareCore National of Wappingers Falls, NY, has received a trial date.
CareCore is a benefits management company used by most insurers in the state of New York, including UnitedHealthcare, Oxford Health Plans, and Aetna. Radiologists not in CareCore's network claim they have been denied access to thousands of patients.
Judge Victor Marrero of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York set a trial date for November 30 after ruling that requests from both sides for summary judgment motions weren't helpful. The case was filed by radiology group Park West Radiology of New York City in November 2006.
"This is the first lawsuit against CareCore in which the court has indicated that the case will not be disposed of [via summary judgment motions] before trial," said Matthew Cantor, a partner at Constantine Cannon in New York City, which is representing Park West.
The suit names not only CareCore and its subsidiaries, but also Dr. Michael Abiri, an alleged equity owner in CareCore who practices at Westside Radiology, near Park West, and therefore allegedly benefits from CareCore's exclusion of Park West; and Dr. Andrew Litt, former chair of CareCore, member of the company's board of managers (which makes decisions on who to include in CareCore's network), and vice chair of New York University School of Medicine, Cantor said.
Similar cases against CareCore are open in courts in several New York jurisdictions. In March, Omega Diagnostic Imaging filed an antitrust lawsuit in New York against CareCore.
Cantor expects the trial to last five to six weeks.
"This case will deal with the conflict of interest embedded when radiologists are making decisions about whether their competitors can access largest insurance networks, and how that affects patient care and quality of care," he said.
Related Reading
CareCore endorses Image Gently campaign, November 12, 2008
Antitrust: Achilles' heel of radiology benefits management companies? July 22, 2008
New York imaging center sues CareCore, May 12, 2008
Horizon Healthcare, CareCore ink deal, February 25, 2005
Health Net signs deal with CareCore, November 10, 2004
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