Settlement Reached in DeMaria v. Horizon Healthcare Services

On June 20, 2016, Zuckerman Spaeder LLP and Buttaci Leardi & Werner LLC as class counsel for the chiropractic classes in ALPHONSE A. DEMARIA, et al., on their own behalf and on behalf of certified classes v. HORIZON HEALTHCARE SERVICES, INC. d/b/a HORIZON BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF NEW JERSEY, et al., announced an agreement to resolve the DeMaria class action lawsuits pending before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. If the court approves the settlement, the agreement will conclude the lawsuit against Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (“Horizon BCBSNJ”).

Horizon BCBSNJ has agreed to place $33 million into an escrow fund from which Class Members will receive payments related to the denial of submitted claims for certain evaluation and management services (“E/M”) or physical therapy (“PT”) modalities that Class Members performed on the same date on which they performed and were paid directly by Horizon for chiropractic manipulative therapy (“CMT”) treatments for the same patient for the period of December 16, 2005 through April 15, 2010.

The fund will also see to the payment of the attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses for Class Counsel.

This settlement, once approved, will end litigation originally filed in 2011. Class Members will be paid without the need for re-submission, reprocessing or re-evaluation of claims.