New York Class Action Lawsuit Claims ‘Ghost Network’ Limits Access Through Carelon Behavioral Health

On April 28, 2025, a class action lawsuit was filed in New York against Elevance Health, alleging that its Empire Plan, a health insurance plan offered in the New York State Health Insurance Program (NYSHIP) for state employees, did not accurately represent how many behavioral health provider organizations were in-network. Their key complaint is that Carelon Health, which manages behavioral health benefits for the Empire Plan, included listings as “in-network” for clinical behavioral health professionals and provider organizations who did not accept the Empire Plan insurance. The plaintiffs characterized the directory as a misleading “ghost network.”

The plaintiffs . . .