Granite City Chiropractor Mark Eavenson, who has filed at least 23
class action cases against insurance companies in Madison County Circuit Court, will be in court March 31 for a case management conference in his suit against Corvel Corp.
Eavenson accuses Corvel of defrauding health care providers, such as himself, by luring them into its network, paying them discounted
rates, but never delivering the promised patient referrals.
Corvel is not an insurance company. It helps insurers and corporations hold down their health-care costs by managing and automating managed-care networks. Eavenson filed suit against Corvel on Sept. 14, 2004.
The company also operates a preferred-provider organization (PPO). Physicians who enter Corvel's PPO offer services at discounted prices in exchange for access to its patient-referral network.
The complaint also alleges that Corvel manipulated its claims
processing software to reduce the amount it would pay physicians.
In August, Eavenson spoke at a press conference outside the Madison
County courthouse, blaming insurers for Illinois' medical malpractice
crisis.
"We are in such a hurry to blame lawyers that we are missing the real
problem that is causing doctors to shut their practices," Eavenson
said.
He accused insurance companies of improperly reducing their payments
to doctors by as much as 30 percent.
In 2002, Eavenson collected $10,000 for serving as the named plaintiff in a class suit against Travelers Insurance.
Eavenson is represented by Jeffery Millar of the Lakin Law Firm in Wood River.
The conference will be held in Circuit Judge Philip Kardis' Granite City courtroom at 9:30 a.m.
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