A Massachusetts federal judge dismissed claims against Aetna on Sept. 30 in antitrust litigation over the use of Zelis’ repricing tools.
The judge determined the providers’ latest complaint did not plausibly allege Aetna used the tools. The plaintiffs filed a second amended complaint in August, following a first amended complaint in June 2025. The first complaint in the consolidated action dates to March 2025.
The providers alleged some commercial payers — including Cigna, Elevance Health, Humana and UnitedHealth Group — used repricing tools with “collusively determined” price ceilings for payments to out-of-network providers. The plaintiffs allege the practice amounts to “price fixing” that suppressed out-of-network payments.
The latest complaint said “one or more commercial payers agreed to purchase repricing services from Zelis.” However, the June 2025 version said “commercial payers agreed to purchase repricing services from Zelis.” The more recent version lacks explicit allegations that Aetna used the tools, the court said.
Aetna declined a Becker’s request for comment.
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