Aetna Must Litigate Doctors’ Group Suit Over Policy Changes (1)

The California Medical Association has standing to sue Aetna Health of California Inc. over the insurer’s alleged threats to doctors who referred patients to out-of-network physicians, a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled Monday.

The justices agreed with the CMA’s arguments that the trade group devoted substantial resources to dealing with the insurer’s policy and thus had standing to sue for injunctive relief under the state’s unfair competition law. The court held that organizational standing doesn’t depend on whether the group has members also injured by the alleged practices and would also benefit from the requested relief.

“We hold that the ...