Anthem Beats Lawsuit Over Alleged Mental Health ‘Ghost Network’

Anthem escaped a lawsuit alleging that the mental health directory in one of its New York health plans is essentially a “ghost network,” after a federal judge dismissed the case Monday.

Judge John P. Cronan concluded the plaintiffs’ claims were preempted by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Act, and the plaintiffs therefore lacked standing to sue.

“The Court appreciates Plaintiffs’ frustration with ghost networks, a frustration that their Complaint suggests is shared by Congress and state authorities,” he wrote in his opinion. But “no relief is available.”

The case in the US District Court for the Southern District of ...