LifeBrite Laboratories, LLC v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc.

District Court, N.D. Georgia·Decided June 17, 2024·No. 1:23-cv-03748·Unknown

Opinion

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA ATLANTA DIVISION

LIFEBRITE LABORATORIES, LLC and CHRISTIAN FLETCHER, Plaintiffs, v. CIVIL ACTION NO. 1:23-cv-03748-JPB BLUE CROSS AND BLUE SHIELD OF FLORIDA, INC. d/b/a FLORIDA BLUE; BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD HEALTHCARE PLAN OF GEORGIA, INC.; ELEVANCE HEALTH, INC. f/k/a ANTHEM INSURANCE COMPANIES, INC.; UNITEDHEALTH GROUP INCORPORATED; AETNA HEALTH INC. (Georgia); and AETNA HEALTH INC. (Florida),

Defendants. ORDER Before the Court are the following motions: (i) Motion to Dismiss filed by Defendant Elevance Health, Inc. (“Elevance”), ECF No. 82; (ii) Motion to Conduct Jurisdictional Discovery filed by Plaintiffs LifeBrite Laboratories, LLC and Christian Fletcher (collectively “Plaintiffs”), ECF No. 88; and (iii) Motion to Strike filed by Plaintiffs, ECF No. 96. The Court finds as follows: I. BACKGROUND Plaintiffs filed suit alleging that the defendants are liable for fabricating allegations of billing fraud against Plaintiffs and then lobbying federal authorities to bring criminal charges against Plaintiffs for such alleged fraud. Plaintiffs claim

that the defendants took those actions with the intent that an indictment would cripple Plaintiffs’ business and allow the defendants to avoid paying hundreds of millions of dollars in laboratory testing claims. Plaintiffs allege causes of action

for Malicious Prosecution (Count I), Georgia RICO (Count II), Tortious Interference With Contractual Relations (Count III), Tortious Interference With Business Relations (Count IV), Fraudulent Scheme (Count V) and Defamation (Count VI).

Elevance contends that this Court lacks personal jurisdiction over it. With respect to the specific allegations against Elevance, the First Amended Complaint (“FAC”) asserts that:

Defendant Elevance Health, Inc. f/k/a Anthem Insurance Companies, Inc. (“Anthem”) is an Indiana corporation that is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. [Elevance], through its subsidiaries, is authorized to do business in the state of Georgia and does in fact transact business in Gwinnett County. FAC, ECF No. 64, ¶ 13. This Court has personal jurisdiction over foreign Defendants Florida Blue, [Elevance], UHC and Aetna because they all have minimum contacts with the State of Georgia, transact substantial business in the State of Georgia, have committed torts in the State of Georgia, and have aided and abetted, and tortiously conspired with, Defendants BCBS Ga and Aetna Georgia, which are Georgia corporations; and they have done so in Gwinnett County. Id. ¶ 17. [Elevance] was also investigating a spike in insurance claims for its members that were submitted by or on behalf of rural hospitals in Florida, Georgia and Missouri. [Elevance] investigators discussed their investigation with investigators from Florida Blue and others. After these discussions, [Elevance] claimed that these rural hospitals were engaging in an insurance billing fraud scheme similar to that alleged by Florida Blue and other Defendants. Id. ¶ 126. On information and belief, [Elevance] discovered in or around 2017 that the laboratory services claims did not contain POS Code 22 and therefore were not billed fraudulently. Yet [Elevance] continued to accuse Plaintiffs and others of engaging in an insurance billing fraud scheme through the inclusion of a POS Code on the claims. Id. ¶ 127. [Elevance] provided claims data spreadsheets to the DOJ in response to Grand Jury subpoenas that showed that the laboratory services claims were billed using POS Code 22. [Elevance] did not disclose to the DOJ or to the Grand Jury that, in fact, none of the claims were submitted using a POS Code 22 and that these codes were inserted by [Elevance]. Id. ¶ 128. [Elevance] did not disclose to the Grand Jury or federal authorities that the laboratory services claims were submitted using code 141 and that such coding was entirely proper and legitimate. Id. ¶ 129. [Elevance’s] corporate representative in a separate proceeding involving a different rural hospital admitted under oath that code 141 was the proper way to bill the insurer for non-patient samples collected and tested through a hospital laboratory outreach program. This information was concealed from federal authorities and the Grand Jury. Id. ¶ 130. II. ANALYSIS A. Motion to Dismiss A motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction is analyzed according to a “three-step burden-shifting process.” Diulus v. Am. Express Travel Related Servs. Co., Inc., 823 F. App’x 843, 848 (11th Cir. 2020). First, the plaintiff “bears the initial burden of alleging in the complaint sufficient facts to make out a prima facie case of jurisdiction.” Second, if the complaint alleged sufficient facts, and “the defendant challenges jurisdiction by submitting affidavit evidence in support of its position, the burden traditionally shifts back to the plaintiff to produce evidence supporting jurisdiction.” Third, “[w]here the plaintiff’s complaint and supporting evidence conflict with the defendant’s affidavits, the court must construe all reasonable inferences in favor of the plaintiff.” Id. (citations omitted) (alteration in original). Thus, the court will look beyond the plaintiff’s complaint “only if (1) the complaint alleged sufficient facts to make out a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction, and (2) the defendant challenges jurisdiction by submitting affidavit evidence in support of its position.” Id. at 849 (citations omitted) (emphasis

added). If the plaintiff does not meet the initial burden to allege sufficient facts to make out a prima facie case of personal jurisdiction, “the district court [does not] go to the second and third steps of the burden-shifting process, and the

[defendant’s] motion should be granted.” Id. To determine whether a plaintiff has met the initial burden to demonstrate that personal jurisdiction exists, courts employ a “two-step inquiry.” See Mut. Serv. Ins. Co. v. Frit Indus., Inc., 358 F.3d 1312, 1319 (11th Cir. 2004). First, the

court “determine[s] whether the exercise of jurisdiction is appropriate under the forum state’s long-arm statute.” Id. Second, if the forum state’s long-arm statute allows for personal jurisdiction, the court then “examine[s] whether the exercise of

personal jurisdiction over the defendant would violate the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” Id. The Court addresses each step in turn. 1. Georgia’s Long-arm Statute In relevant part, Georgia’s long-arm statute allows a court to exercise

personal jurisdiction over a nonresident corporation if that corporation: (1) Transacts any business within [Georgia]; (2) Commits a tortious act or omission within [Georgia], except as to a cause of action for defamation of character arising from the act; [or] (3) Commits a tortious injury caused by an act or omission outside [Georgia] if the tort-feasor regularly does or solicits business, or engages in any other persistent course of conduct, or derives substantial revenue from goods used or consumed or services rendered in [Georgia]. O.C.G.A. § 9-10-91. A foreign corporation transacts business in Georgia when it has purposefully done some act or consummated some transaction in Georgia, which can include both tangible and intangible contacts, such as mail and telephone calls. See Diamond Crystal Brands, Inc. v. Food Movers Int’l, Inc., 593 F.3d 1249, 1264 (11th Cir. 2010).

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LifeBrite Laboratories, LLC v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, Inc., (N.D. Ga. 2024).

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