Law360(July 14, 2025, 10:43 PM EDT)

Blue Cross Blue Shield asked an Alabama federal judge on Friday to approve a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement with hospitals and other healthcare providers over its territorial policies, arguing that recent objections to the deal’s release provision are meritless and the settlement preserves “key, procompetitive features” of the insurance system.

In a 27-page brief, the Blue Cross affiliates argued that objections to the settlement’s release provision are based on the objectors’ “strained reading of the release runs counter to its plain text.” The brief also notes that the release is similar to a release provision in Blue Cross’ other 10-figure settlement that the Eleventh Circuit affirmed.

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Healthcare economist experts working on the Blue Cross Blue Shield antitrust case for the past decade have calculated a value for the settlement’s injunctive relief in excess of $17.3 billion over the first ten years of its implementation. In addition to a $2.8 billion monetary payment, the significant benefits of the settlement’s injunctive relief include specific commitments relating to transparency, efficiency, and Blue Plan accountability that will directly benefit providers and the patients they serve.

The website provides information about the settlement and a portal for Settlement Class Members to submit claims.

https://www.bcbsprovidersettlement.com

— An Alabama federal judge has given his initial approval for a $2.8 billion settlement inked between Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and a proposed class of medical providers in a more than 12-year-old antitrust case targeting association rules.

U.S. District Judge David R. Proctor issued an order Wednesday granting preliminary approval for the deal, which also includes a commitment from BCBS to invest “hundreds of millions” overhauling its claims systems to soften barriers between members.

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Law360(October 15, 2024, 6:54 PM EDT)

The Blue Cross Blue Shield network will shell out $2.8 billion and invest “hundreds of millions” more overhauling its claims systems to soften barriers between members, in a massive antitrust settlement disclosed Monday in Alabama federal court under which healthcare providers’ counsel stands to reap up to $700 million.

Billed as “the largest-ever payment in a healthcare antitrust case, and one of the largest in any antitrust case,” the deal with a class of providers comes on top of a $2.67 billion settlement that the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and its members previously cut with network subscribers, resolving allegations that the defendants illegally carved up the country and blocked competition between BCBS members.
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By Mike Scarcella / Reuters

Insurer Blue Cross Blue Shield has agreed to pay $2.8 billion to resolve antitrust class action claims by hospital systems, physicians and other health providers alleging they were underpaid for reimbursements, the plaintiffs said in an Alabama federal court filing today.

The settlement is the largest ever for a healthcare antitrust case, they added.

Blue Cross Blue Shield denied the allegations in a statement, but said it agreed to the settlement and make operational changes to “put years of litigation behind us.”

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BIRMINGHAM, AL – Today a monumental settlement was announced by Whatley Kallas, LLP, Co-Lead Counsel, in a long-running antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of healthcare providers across the nation. The settlement with all the Blue Cross and Blue Shield entities in the country, as well as the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, provides billions of dollars for healthcare providers and is the largest antitrust settlement in the history of the United States healthcare industry. The settlement includes a $2.8 billion cash payment into a settlement fund, as well as investments by the Blues of hundreds of millions of dollars in system improvements for the benefit of providers. Provider Plaintiffs have asked the court to preliminarily approve the settlement, which would resolve their claims that the Blues violated the antitrust laws by, among other things, agreeing to allocate markets through the use of exclusive service areas and to fix the prices paid to providers through the BlueCard Program.

Law360(August 16, 2024, 6:37 PM EDT)

A Georgia Blue Cross Blue Shield unit is fighting a California hospital’s push to have a lawsuit seeking $905,000 in reimbursements sent back to a Georgia state court, arguing the hospital’s state law claims are preempted by the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

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By Matthew Perlman ·  Listen to articleLaw360 (June 24, 2024, 9:54 AM EDT)  — The U.S. Supreme Court refused on Monday to review Home Depot‘s challenge of a $2.67 billion settlement in antitrust litigation targeting Blue Cross Blue Shield, along with a separate challenge of the attorney fees awarded for the deal.

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