A website containing information for provider class settlement members in Blue Cross Blue Shield antitrust litigation has launched.
The website was launched after the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, along with the 33 independent BCBS companies, agreed to pay $2.8 billion to settle antitrust claims from healthcare providers, marking the largest settlement of its kind in the healthcare industry. The settlement was reached in October. An Alabama court granted the agreement preliminary approval on Dec. 4.
The settlement class includes providers who currently provide or provided healthcare services, equipment or supplies to any patient who was insured by, or was a member or a beneficiary of, any plan administered by any settling individual Blues plan from July 24, 2008 to Oct. 4, 2024, according to the website.
The deadline to submit a claim is July 29, 2025.
Health systems, physicians, and other providers initially filed the lawsuit in 2012, accusing BCBS companies of conspiring to divide markets to avoid competing with one another, which allegedly drove up costs and reduced reimbursements. The BCBS Association denies the allegations made in the lawsuit.
"This settlement ends a long-running legal challenge to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association license agreements and related rules," a BCBSA spokesperson told Becker's in October. "However, to reach a settlement and put years of litigation behind us, we have agreed to make certain operational changes and provide a monetary payment to the provider class involved in the case."
In addition to the cash settlement, BCBS plans must implement significant operational changes across 16 categories. These changes include how BCBS processes claims, communicates, contracts with, and makes payments to providers.