By: Gail Sullivan
Law360
Law360, New York (October 20, 2015, 10:28 PM ET) — Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi urged an Alabama federal court Monday to toss seven antitrust suits from multidistrict litigation challenging how the insurance giant divvies up territories among franchisees, saying it didn’t do enough business in certain states to be sued there.
Suits by health care providers accusing the insurance giant and its independent regional units of price-fixing and conspiring not to compete were consolidated in Alabama federal court in 2012.
In May, U.S. District Judge R. David Proctor denied bids by several Blue Cross units to dismiss the suit, saying the providers were entitled to discovery to determine where the cases should be heard. His order noted that the health care providers had also sued those same Blue Cross units, including Blue Cross of Mississippi, in their home states.