Law360 (January 20, 2022, 8:11 PM EST) — COVID-19 testing provider GS Labs LLC is escalating a multimillion-dollar dispute with Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Kansas City, Missouri, unit over test-reimbursement claims that the insurer says are “grossly inflated” by hitting back with antitrust counterclaims accusing the BCBS branch of suppressing competition for tests.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City, or Blue KC, says GS Labs has refused to negotiate pricing in good faith and has charged “wildly excessive and inaccurate cash prices” of at least $380, “approximately ten times higher than reasonable rates and twenty times higher than the wholesale cost,” according to its amended complaint filed in the Western District of Missouri.
GS Labs has come out swinging against allegations that it violated the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act, having already filed counterclaims accusing Blue KC of refusing to cover tests, in violation of the CARES Act, just because the insurer considers the prices too high. On Tuesday, GS Labs escalated those allegations with proposed amended counterclaims adding antitrust claims alleging that Blue KC’s failure to abide by CARES Act coverage obligations is “part of a pattern of anti-competitive conduct” meant to drive the testing provider out of the market.