Although Gonzalez previously dismissed the case, he allowed the plaintiffs to refile an amended complaint. However, he ruled this week that even with the additional allegations, the plaintiff “still fails to plausibly allege” that the companies entered into an unlawful agreement. He went on to say that the amended complaint “spans 331 paragraphs but fails to include a single factual allegation that plausibly suggests United and MultiPlan conspired to restrain trade.” The judge also denied Long Island Anesthesiologists an opportunity to amend the complaint again, concluding that further attempts would be futile. 

Related: MultiPlan responds to lawsuits, says providers want to increase health care prices

Last August, a superior court judge in California dismissed a lawsuit from a bankrupt health system that accused MultiPlan of entering into an agreement with major payers to artificially reduce out-of-network reimbursement for providers. Despite these rulings, however, MultiPlan still is litigating several lawsuits alleging that it colluded with commercial payers in a price-fixing scheme to underpay providers.

AdventHealth filed a legal action against MultiPlan last year, and Allegiance Health Management and Community Health Systems sued this year after the American Hospital Association urged the Department of Labor to open a new investigation into the company. In 2022, the AMA joined a class-action lawsuit against Cigna that claimed the insurer underpaid for claims filed by providers in the MultiPlan network. The company has countered that the lawsuits are “without merit and would ultimately increase prices for patients and employers.” 

In February, MultiPlan announced that it was rebranding with the new name Claritev. According to its website, “the company plays a significant role in delivering access to care through provider networks, identifying health care cost savings, lowering out-of-pocket costs and reducing or eliminating balance bills for patients across the United States.”