In a unanimous ruling this week, the justices of the United States Supreme Court rejected arguments by the Kentucky Association of Health Plans Inc. that Kentucky's "any willing provider" law was pre-empted by the 1974 federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act. The ruling support state laws that force health-maintenance organizations to open networks and allow doctors who agree to follow the network's terms to be paid by the insurer. For the entire article, please go to http://online.wsj.com.

March 31, 2003--- AMED News Article Details Georgia Physicians’ Battle With Blues

In 1997 the Georgia Medical Association and four doctors, filed an action requesting that the state court declare that all physicians' Blues contracts were unenforceable. The state court in 2002 agreed with doctors’ indication that physicians had no way of knowing how much they eventually would be reimbursed. Without that knowledge the court noted there was no valid consideration and that without consideration, no agreement could exist. The Medical Association of Georgia is now asking a judge and the state's insurance commissioner to force Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia to give physicians additional information on how it bundles CPT codes for patient claims so that the doctors can determine the real fee schedules. The physicians argue that this information is simply the same data the court ordered the Blues to reveal almost a year ago. For the entire article, please go to www.ama-assn.org.

March 31, 2003--- New Court Documents Available

Updated court documents continued to be available at the “Court Documents” section of www.hmocrisis.com. Information provided includes court and deposition schedules, court orders, motions and other relevant documents. Materials are provided as available. For the most current trial schedule please CLICK HERE.

Additional Newsroom Articles:

April 2, 2003 - Washington Post Article: Supreme Court Says States Can Force HMOs to Open Doctor Networks

April 2, 2003--- CNN Online Article: Justices: States can force HMOs to open networks

For additional information concerning HMO litigation, please visit the HMO Crisis Newsroom.