Blue Cross Insurance Antitrust Class Action Settlement

Insurance Settlement

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  • Blue Cross is being sued for violated antitrust laws by entering into an agreement not to compete with each other and to limit competition among themselves in selling health insurance and administrative services for health insurance.

Settling Defendants deny all allegations of wrongdoing and assert that their conduct results in lower healthcare costs and greater access to care for their customers. The Court has not decided who is right or wrong. Instead, Plaintiffs and Settling Defendants have agreed to a Settlement to avoid the risk and cost of further litigation.

Check your Eligibility and File a Claim Here

Who is Eligible?

If you were covered by certain Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance or administrative services plans between February 2008 and October 2020, you may be a Class Member.

You may be eligible to receive payment if you are an Individual, Insured Group (and their employees) or Self-Funded Account (and their employees) that purchased or were enrolled in a Blue Cross or Blue Shield health insurance or administrative services plan during one of the two Settlement Class Periods. Government accounts are excluded from the Class.

The Settlement Class Period for Individuals and Insured Groups is from February 7, 2008, through October 16, 2020. The Settlement Class Period for Self-Funded Accounts is from September 1, 2015 through October 16, 2020. Dependents, beneficiaries (including minors), and non-employees are NOT eligible to receive payment.

All Individuals, Insured Groups, and Self-Funded Accounts that purchased or were enrolled in a Blue Cross or Blue Shield health insurance or administrative services plan during the applicable Class Period will also benefit from the parts of the Settlement requiring Settling Defendants to change certain of their practices that were alleged to be anticompetitive. Dependents, beneficiaries (including minors), and non-employees will benefit from this part of the Settlement.

How Much Will We Get?

The Net Settlement Fund is estimated to be approximately $1.9 billion. No good estimates are given for how much you’ll get when filing.

Important Dates

  • February 7, 2008 through October 16, 2020 is the affected timeframe for Individuals and Insured Groups
  • September 1, 2015 through October 16, 2020 is the affected timeframe for Self-Funded Account
  • October 20, 2021 is the Fairness Hearing
  • November 5, 2021 is the final date to file a claim

Final Thoughts

Lots of people use the various branches of Blue Cross insurance and will be eligible for this settlement. Easy process to file – they don’t force you to give exact dates and the like (though they ask for that if possible). Some people even got a postcard with a unique code to use, others got one with no unique code and have to use the regular filing process. Hopefully it ends up being a nice check whenever this all settles.

Hat tip to reader Davis

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48 Comments
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Gene
Gene (@guest_1728893)
November 2, 2023 16:38

Update:
“Settlement Status
On October 25, 2023, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed approval of the settlement agreement. The deadline for exhaustion of any additional appeals falls in the first quarter of 2024. Please check back in February 2024 for additional updates.“

Bockrr
Bockrr (@guest_1491740)
November 19, 2022 14:40

Was deleting old stuff regarding the plaid settlement from an email folder and found the emails from this thing. Still not paid lol.

Settlement Status
The Court granted final approval to the Settlement on August 9, 2022. However, some Settlement Class Members who objected to the Settlement have now appealed the Court’s decision to approve the Settlement. The Settlement cannot become final, and benefits cannot be distributed, until all appeals are resolved. There is currently no timeline for resolution of these appeals.

Frank
Frank (@guest_1191894)
May 15, 2021 15:36

RIP getting paid on this one

Josh
Josh (@guest_1191831)
May 15, 2021 11:32

Wait, easy to file? I got that post card and looked at the process and it looked like they wanted me to spend 3 hours researching all my past insurance group and policy IDs to provide them with specifics….said F this and closed the window

These class action lawsuits are a scam – only people getting rich are the lawyers

dizzy
dizzy (@guest_1191858)
May 15, 2021 12:43

IDK, I make a thousand or so a year easy from class action lawsuits…I’ll take it. Part of my total bank robbery hustle. This was easy for me to fill out from the postcard tho I only entered in my current policy id

Frank
Frank (@guest_1191895)
May 15, 2021 15:36

You must use a wide variety of goods & services…

Jordan L
Jordan L (@guest_1191916)
May 15, 2021 17:18

Actually, from the documents, in addition to the lawyers it looks like the employers will likely do very well here too. It states that employers per group will get 100% of the settlement fund allocated to them for each employee that does not file, and 85% of the fund for each employee that does file unless the employee takes steps to prove they paid more than 15% of their premiums.

Holly
Holly (@guest_1193017)
May 18, 2021 19:48

I still filed anyway and just didn’t fill out all the past insurance info. Hopefully they have our info tied to that unique ID

beat2def
beat2def (@guest_1193367)
May 19, 2021 15:00

Me too. I put what I remember from 2013 – 2017.

Mike
Mike (@guest_1191814)
May 15, 2021 10:38

Any way to update the dates after submitting? It wouldn’t take 1/2007 until now, so I edited until it would take 1/2009 to 12/2019 and it looks like I cut off a couple years from that.

Yiyang Zhu
Yiyang Zhu (@guest_1191723)
May 14, 2021 23:40

I got the mail too and already filed… I’ll be thrilled to receive like $3 after all.

Novacat05
Novacat05 (@guest_1191702)
May 14, 2021 22:34

I got a postcard about 10 days ago and filled a form out. Couldn’t find documentation from work back then about what % I paid and what % company paid, so I had to accept the standard 15% I think it was for an individual plan I was on at the time.

Probably get nothing but a couple bucks while the lawyers will have money fights. That’s life… and the reason why nearly every company under the sun is forcing binding arbitration as a condition of using their services.

Frank
Frank (@guest_1191896)
May 15, 2021 15:37

Which is fine and dandy for them until that Chegg lawyer gets involved

Ron
Ron (@guest_1278676)
November 5, 2021 17:18

Novacat05 Where do you see information about the 15% etc.?
I am filing out the claim form and don’t see any mention of this

JP
JP (@guest_1191650)
May 14, 2021 20:18

Yep. Parents received mailer with unique codes couple days back. Hope it’s three figures settlement at least. 🤑

b
b (@guest_1192011)
May 16, 2021 01:36
  JP

I’ve never gotten a class action payment for more than about $20

mango
mango (@guest_1194675)
May 22, 2021 14:32
  b

I’ve gotten one for over $1200. So it’s possible.

JP
JP (@guest_1191648)
May 14, 2021 20:17

Delete please

Mike D
Mike D (@guest_1191618)
May 14, 2021 19:06

Blue Cross denies doing anything wrong, but yet is paying out $1.9 billion….

lilurbanachiever
lilurbanachiever (@guest_1191654)
May 14, 2021 20:24

It’s actually closer to 3 bil. A cool bil goes to vultures, I mean lawyers.

Jackson Waterson
Jackson Waterson (@guest_1191693)
May 14, 2021 21:57

The U.S. legal system rewards vultures as lilurbanachiever put it. No one is usually harmed by most of what class actions sue for. Lawyers find obscure, arbitrary, capricious, and excessively regulatory rules that a company may have not followed despite zero harm to consumers in most cases.

Settlements are frequently done to prevent even more legal fees and uncertainties.

DK
DK (@guest_1192184)
May 16, 2021 22:06

people were definitely harmed by this, why you totin water for insurance comanies?

James
James (@guest_1191839)
May 15, 2021 12:00

It cost more to fight then to pay . The system is stacked for the greedy lawyers (99% are democrats ) . They get elected and get laws passed to sue for minor issues . The public then bares the cost to make up for the. OST paid out.

MakingUpFacts
MakingUpFacts (@guest_1191975)
May 15, 2021 22:26

99% huh? These strong facts really add to the validity of your argument.

DK
DK (@guest_1192185)
May 16, 2021 22:07

*bears* the cost, lousy grammar, must be a republinazi