NOTABLE CLASS ACTION CASES

Banken v. Anthem Blue Cross — sued Anthem for conducting unlawful peer reviews, for “robosigning” denial letters, and for denying treatment to patients with severe mental illness through the use of sham guidelines. 

Oppel v. Anthem Blue Cross — sued Anthem for failing to pay for treatment for patients with eating disorders through the use of unlawful peer reviews, “robosigned” denial letters, and the use of sham guidelines designed to deny treatment.

Rea v. Blue Shield — sued Blue Shield for not providing residential treatment for eating disorders. 

Rhonda S. v. Kaiser — sued Kaiser for failing to provide ambulance services and hospitalization for its members with severe mental illness.

NOTABLE CLASS ACTION RESULTS

Ames v. Anthem — sued Anthem for failing to provide treatment for mental illness for its members who also have substance use conditions.

Bodner v. Blue Shield — sued Blue Shield for unlawful “hidden deductibles,” which create risk of unlimited payment obligations for certain patients. Class action settlement had a monetized value of $12,500,000.

Doe v. California Health Plan — sued health insurance company for limiting outpatient psychotherapy sessions to 12 per year, irrespective of patients’ individual needs.  Class action settlement resulted in payment of $3,000,000.  In addition, the insurance company lifted its cap on treatment, resulting in a benefit of $30,000,000 to the class over the course of 3 years.

Kerr v. Kaiser Permanente — sued Kaiser for “patient dumping” members with severe mental illness by forcing its members to cancel their Kaiser policies so that treatment costs can be transferred to public taxpayers. Class action settlement had a monetized value of $10,083,292.

Kreuzhage v. Anthem Blue Cross — sued Anthem for engaging in a variety of unlawful business practices including charging a $2.00 for each paper bill sent to its members.  Class action settlement resulted in agreement to pay $6,186,575.75, and to refrain from charging paper bill fees in the future.  The total monetized value of the settlement was $24,317,147.