By: Jeff Overley
Law360, New York (December 22, 2016, 4:53 PM EST) —
An Alabama federal judge on Wednesday smacked down efforts by Blue Cross Blue Shield plans to escape multidistrict litigation alleging a vast price-fixing conspiracy, finding that the insurers have sufficient business ties to the geographic area in question.
U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor rejected motions to dismiss filed by nine of the 38 Blues accused of a decades-old conspiracy to avoid competing in certain areas and fix prices paid to doctors and hospitals.