The Honorable R. David Proctor of the Northern District of Alabama entered two Memorandum and Orders on January 31, 24.
Author Archives: Admin
Blue Cross loses bid to block damages in long-running antitrust case
By: Mike Scarcella
Dec 22 (Reuters) – A U.S. judge has rejected Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s bid to bar monetary damages claims from a long-running antitrust case allowing Alabama healthcare providers to seek billions of dollars from the insurance giant and its members for allegedly scheming to underpay them for years.
The ruling on Thursday by U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor in Birmingham allows the claims from health professionals, hospitals and other providers to move forward.
A separate class in the case made up of insurance subscribers, including companies and individuals, settled related claims for $2.7 billion in 2020.
Blue Cross Tribal Health Plan Reimbursement Suit Moves Forward
By: Jacklyn Willie
A long running dispute over Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan’s handling of an American Indian tribe health plan will continue after a US judge declined to find the insurer deliberately failed to meet its discovery obligations and grant judgment for the tribe.
Rate clash between Regence BlueCross BlueShield, Providence could affect 260,000
Regence is taking a reimbursement dispute public, saying its members could be deemed out-of-network starting early next year
Insurer Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon is going public with complaints that Providence Health & Services is seeking double-digit price hikes that would be felt by patients around Oregon.
And if the two don’t come to an agreement, Providence, Oregon’s largest hospital system, could stop honoring Regence insurance on Jan. 15 for people covered by plans through their employers and on Feb. 15 for people who use the insurer’s Medicare Advantage plans.
That means people on Regence insurance seeing Providence providers could lose access to their normal providers or find themselves subject to hefty charges for seeing providers who are considered out-of-network by Regence.
Ariz. BCBS Rips ‘Kitchen-Sink’ Suit Over Low Doctor Payouts
Law360 (December 7, 2023, 5:12 PM EST) — The Arizona arm of Blue Cross Blue Shield is coming out swinging against what it calls a “kitchen-sink complaint” brought by groups representing hundreds of doctors claiming the insurer has unfairly been paying them as in-network providers, saying that the attempt to “coerce greater reimbursement is legally insufficient in fatal ways.”
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Arizona Inc. is paying the individual doctors it had contracts with according to their contracts, and it’s using the independent arbitration process established by the No Surprises Act for out-of-network providers and insurers to settle disputes with the rest, it told an Arizona federal court Tuesday.
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Proposed class action lawsuit filed to block BCBS Louisiana, Elevance deal
Rylee Wilson –
A Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Louisiana policyholder filed a proposed class action lawsuit seeking to block the insurer’s sale to Elevance Health, nola.com reported Dec. 5.
The lawsuit, filed Dec. 4, does not name BCBS Louisiana or Elevance, but the Accelerate Louisiana Initiative, the foundation BCBS Louisiana plans to fund with the proceeds from the Elevance sale.
BCBS Louisiana proposed that around 90% of the proceeds of the sale go to the foundation to advance health equity in the state, with around 10% paid out to BCBS Louisiana policyholders. The acquisition must be approved by two-thirds of BCBS Louisiana’s policy holders.
11th Circ. Backs Blue Cross’ Sprawling $2.67B Antitrust Deal
Law360 (October 25, 2023, 11:35 PM EDT) — The Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday affirmed Blue Cross Blue Shield insurers’ $2.67 billion settlement resolving multidistrict litigation alleging anti-competitive practices, finding in a published decision that an Alabama federal court made no mistake in signing off on the deal.
The three-judge panel rejected a slew of objections from Home Depot, Topographic Inc., Employee Services Inc. and several individuals. In particular, the Eleventh Circuit rejected Home Depot’s contention that the release of claims under the settlement would prevent national employers not participating in the settlement from making similar claims in the future.
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Parties Respond to the Court’s Show Cause Order
The parties in MDL No. 2406 In Re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation responded to the Court’s October 19, 2023 Show Cause Order regarding remand.
To View the Provider Plaintiffs Filing:
To view the Blues Filing:
The Eleventh Circuit affirmed approval of the settlement in Subscribers case in MDL 2406: IN Re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation
The Eleventh Circuit rejected legal challenges to the Subscribers Track settlement in MDL 2406: IN Re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation on 10/25/2023.
Rally held against Excellus BlueCross BlueShield for putting ‘profit over people’
Rochester, N.Y. — A national grassroots campaign delivered a strong message against corporate greed in the streets of Rochester Wednesday.
“CARE OVER COST” rallied outside the Excellus BlueCross BlueShield corporate office on Court Street. They claim the private health insurer is putting profit over people, denying members the treatment and medicines they deserve.
“We believe that all patients and providers end up being in a worse position because of private insurance companies,” said Ursula Rozum, the statewide healthcare lead for Citizen Action of New York. “(These) companies make work harder for the health care providers like WellNow, and they make life really stressful for patients.”