SAN DIEGO, Feb. 16, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- On Thursday, January 19, 2006, the San Diego Superior Court entered Final Judgment in favor of American Specialty Health Plans of California, Inc. (ASHP) and American Specialty Health Networks, Inc. (ASHN) on all claims filed against them by the California Chiropractic Association (CCA) in 2001. With the entry of Final Judgment, ASHP and ASHN have fully and finally defeated all of the claims CCA filed against them.
CCA's complaint originally included 18 causes of action and challenged essentially every feature of ASHP's and ASHN's managed care practices, contending that such activities were unfair, unlawful and fraudulent. CCA sought millions of dollars in restitution and injunctions that would have shut down many aspects of ASHP's and ASHN's business. McDermott Will & Emery served as counsel for ASHP and ASHN.
"We have been diligently fighting this meritless lawsuit for four years. It has been a long, hard fight, but we were confident we would prevail. I could not be more pleased to have finally and fully vindicated our company and put these baseless allegations to rest," remarked George DeVries, President and Chief Executive Officer of both ASHP and ASHN. "We have always known that ASHN and ASHP are high quality organizations that are committed to providing the best possible health care at a reasonable cost. We've treated our chiropractors with dignity and respect including fairly compensating these important individuals."
In resolving these claims, the court made many findings adverse to CCA's claims. For example, the court noted that CCA failed to produce any evidence that the utilization management practices were "contrary to generally accepted professional/medical standards" or "arbitrary." With respect to chiropractor reimbursement, the court determined that there was no reason that it should interfere with ASHP's or ASHN's provider reimbursement schedules, based on the Department of Managed Health Care's finding that ASHP's chiropractor reimbursement rates were "reasonable in relation to industry practices." The court also held that CCA failed to present any evidence that ASHP or ASHN had terminated any chiropractors without cause. Finally, the court found that CCA's claim challenging ASHP's and ASHN's prior decision to limit acceptance in the network to a specified number of chiropractors within a particular area could not be sustained on any grounds.
"During the four years that it took to resolve this case we never wavered in our unflagging commitment to publicly demonstrate the we offer excellent services to our clients, we treat our chiropractors fairly and we make available to patients quality care at an affordable price," remarked Robert White, Chief Operating Officer. "We are glad to see resolution."
"Our victory in this matter is quite significant for the entire managed care industry. Had CCA prevailed in these baseless claims, many of managed care's essential practices would have been at risk. Fortunately, justice and rationality prevailed," said lead attorney Elizabeth Mann. "If CCA's approach had been successful, no managed care organization could safely rely on its contracts to guide its business decisions. We are delighted to see ASHP and ASHN fully vindicated in this matter."
American Specialty Health, based in San Diego, and its affiliates is the nation's largest organization for complementary health care benefit programs, health education programs, and health-related products measured in terms of annual revenues, members/insured, employees, contracted providers and contracted health plans. Its affiliate, ASHP is California's first and largest specialized health plan for chiropractic and acupuncture benefit programs. ASHP provides chiropractic and acupuncture benefit programs to full-service health plans and employer groups. ASHP covers over four million members/insureds, and is California's third-largest specialty health plan. American Specialty Health administers benefit programs for 11.5 million members and discount programs for over 75 million members.
McDermott Will & Emery is a premier international law firm with a diversified business practice. Numbering more than 1000 lawyers, McDermott has offices in Boston, Brussels, Chicago, Dusseldorf, London, Los Angeles, Miami, Munich, New York, Orange County, Rome, San Diego, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. ASHP and ASHN were represented by Elizabeth Mann, Michael O'Neill and Jeff Goldberg.
The American Specialty Health company logo is available at: http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=2357