David Bruce: Blue Cross Blue Shield Settlement Delay Claim Payments Appeal (2024)
It's been two years since more than 35 Blue Cross Blue Shield health plans, including Highmark, reached a $2.67 billion settlement after being sued over allegations they violated antitrust laws.
But people who filed claims still haven't received any money, and it's still unclear when they will.
The U.S. district court overseeing the class action settlement granted final approval on August 9. However, according to Reuters and the settlement's official website, three employers – including Home Depot – have filed an appeal over objections to the settlement:https://www.bcbssettlement.com.
It appears from the case documents that the grounds for the objections were not stated in the appeal. Home Depot officials previously said the settlement could prevent them from pursuing future antitrust claims against Blue Cross Blue Shield, Reuters reported.
As a result, the settlement cannot be finalized and benefits cannot be awarded until all complaints have been resolved. There is no timeline for this, the website said.
Lawyers representing the class action have asked the court “not to delay the distribution of this compensation to tens of thousands of class action members any longer than necessary because of the appeals filed by a very small handful of objectors,” according to Reuters.
The settlement came after the BC/BS plans were accused of illegally entering into an agreement not to compete with each other and restrict competition among them. As part of the settlement, the plans deny all allegations of wrongdoing.
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a national group of independent, community-based and locally operated health insurers.
Each insurance company has its own territory. For example, Highmark's service area includes Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Delaware and parts of Ohio and New York.
How much can you expect to receive?
So how much money can you expect when everything is finally settled? About 6 million people filed claims before the Nov. 5, 2021, deadline, according to legal documents posted on the website.
No more than 25% of the fund is earmarked for legal and administrative costs, leaving approximately 2 billion. That's about $333 per piece of damage.
In a previous column I incorrectly divided the amount by an estimated number of claimants.
While it is not known how long it will take for the court to hear appeals, the average time for an appeal to that court is between nine and 10 months, according to Reuters.
I will keep you informed of further developments.
HERE TO HELP: Do you have a consumer question you would like us to help you with? Leave a message with David Bruce at 870-1736, email todavid.bruce@timesnews.comof per post naar 205 W. 12th St., Erie, PA 16534.
As part of the settlement, the plans deny all allegations of wrongdoing. About six million people, including many in northwestern Pennsylvania, filed claims by the November 2021 deadline. As a result, they can expect to receive about $333 per claim.
The Court granted final approval to the Settlement on August 9, 2022. On January 26, 2024, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals denied an appeal of their October 25, 2023 decision affirming approval of the Settlement Agreement.
If you received a postcard or email notice from the Claims Administrator, your Unique ID was provided to you. If you received a postcard notice, your Unique ID is on the upper left corner of the inside of your postcard. If you received an email notice, the Unique ID was provided toward the top of the email body.
The settlement resolves claims that the insurers violated antitrust laws by entering into an agreement not to compete with each other and to limit competition among themselves in selling health insurance, according to the BCBS settlement website. BCBS has denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
Two objections, raised by Home Depot, focused on (i) the settlement's release of antitrust claims arising from Blue Cross's conduct, and, relatedly, (ii) the adequacy of representation for an injunctive class of plaintiffs who might have future claims based on that conduct.
Settlement Claim Review means the process by which SSA determines, among other things, whether a person is a Class Member, the person has not excluded himself or herself from the Class and this Settlement Agreement pursuant to the opt-out procedures provided by this Settlement Agreement, and whether and to what extent ...
The duration of an accident settlement can vary depending on legal complexities, factual issues concerning your accident, the number of involved parties, or disputes regarding your claim, such as who is liable or how much money you should receive.
How long do you have to decide whether you want to accept the Settlement Agreement? According to Acas guidance, employers should give employees a minimum of 10 calendar days to decide whether they want to accept a Settlement Agreement. Your employer should not demand that the Agreement be signed straight away.
Once a settlement offer is agreed to, the insurance company then has to cut you a check. There are a few additional steps in this process internally for the company, and generally, it can take from two weeks to as long as a month to finally get the check in your hand after the settlement offer is agreed upon.
The agreement (originally proposed as a $7.75 million non-revisionary fund), if approved by a Georgia federal judge, would resolve all claims brought against Horizon in response to a cyberattack that exposed the personally identifiable information (PII) of more than 100,000 Horizon customers and a potential settlement ...
In December 2022, the Court concluded that BCBSIL discriminates against transgender enrollees when it enforced categorical exclusions of gender affirming care, even in self-funded plans that may be designed by employers. Despite the Court's decision, BCBSIL continued to administer the exclusions in 2023.
The lawsuit alleges that BCBSM had clauses in its contracts with some Michigan General Acute Care Hospitals that violated federal and state antitrust laws and inflated prices for medical care at certain Michigan hospitals.
It's been two years since more than 35 Blue Cross Blue Shield health insurance plans, including Highmark, reached a $2.67 billion settlement after they were sued over claims that they violated antitrust laws. Yet people who filed claims still haven't received any money, and it's still not clear when they will.
Answer: The settlement agreement requires that each BCBS plan provide the settlement claim administrator (JND Legal Administration) with billed premium and fee information and covered lives counts, as well contact information for class members, including a personal identifier (“unique ID”) that will be assigned to each ...
Facebook's $725 million class action privacy settlement has received final approval by a federal judge in California. If you're among the millions of people who submitted a valid claim, this development means your payout share will soon be on its way.
Background. In October of 2020, Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies reached an agreement to settle a class action lawsuit in a case brought by subscribers related to licensing agreements within the BCBS system.
The largest-ever class action settlement was agreed upon in 1998 by Philip Morris, RJ Reynolds, and two other tobacco companies. Paid out annually over 25 years, the settlement covered the medical costs for smoking-related injuries for individuals in 46 US states.
Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, also known as BCBS, BCBSA, or The Blues, is a United States-based federation with 34 independent and locally-operated BCBSA companies that provide health insurance in the United States to more than 115 million people as of 2022.
“With this decision, the court made clear not only that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois must not administer any categorical exclusions of coverage for gender-affirming medical care in the future, but that it must reprocess all the claims that it unlawfully denied when it administered the exclusions against class ...
Address: 359 Kelvin Stream, Lake Eldonview, MT 33517-1242
Phone: +577037762465
Job: Product Hospitality Supervisor
Hobby: Gardening, Web surfing, Video gaming, Amateur radio, Flag Football, Reading, Table tennis
Introduction: My name is Manual Maggio, I am a thankful, tender, adventurous, delightful, fantastic, proud, graceful person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
We notice you're using an ad blocker
Without advertising income, we can't keep making this site awesome for you.
