United States Eleventh Circuit

In an action by dentists claiming that defendant health insurer employed a number of practices, such as "improper downcoding" and "improper bundling," as a means of underpaying participating dentists for services they performed, denial of plaintiffs' motion to remand the action is affirmed in part where plaintiffs' allegations implicated not only the "rate of payment" under their provider agreements, but also the "right of payment." However, the order is reversed in part where a trade association did not have standing to sue under ERISA and thus ERISA did not completely preempt plaintiff-association's claims.

Appellate Information

• Decided 12/30/2009
• Published 12/30/2009

Judges

• GORDON J. QUIST, District Judge:, Before BARKETT and HULL, Circuit Judges, and QUIST,District Judge.

Court

• United States Eleventh Circuit

Counsel

• For Appellant:
  
• Michael D. Neubert, Simon I. Allentuch, Neubert Pepe & Monteith, P.C., New Haven, CT, Joe R. Whatley, Jr., Jospeh P. Guglielmo, Whatley, Drake & Kallas, L.L.C., New York City, for Plaintiffs-Appellants., Jack R. Bierig, Sidley, Austin, Brown & Wood, LLP, Chicago, IL, for Amicus Curiae, Am. Dental Ass'n.


• For Appellees:
  
• Catherine E. Stetson, Craig A. Hoover, E. Desmond Hogan, Hogan & Hartson, LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendant-Appellant.