Healthcare Providers Reach $2.8 Billion Settlement in Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Case

A $2.8 billion settlement was reached in a long-running antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of healthcare providers across the nation. The settlement with all the Blue Cross and Blue Shield entities in the country was announced on October 14, 2024, by Providers Co-Lead Counsel Whatley Kallas, LLP, as “the largest antitrust settlement in the history of the United States healthcare industry.”

For several years since this historic litigation began in 2012, Penn & Seaborn’s own Myron Penn, along with some of America’s most renowned antitrust attorneys, was a member of the Providers Negotiating and Settlement Teams. Notably, Myron advocated on behalf of our nation’s rural healthcare providers to ensure that the interests of rural hospitals were equitably considered throughout the negotiating and settlement process.

The settlement includes a $2.8 billion cash payment into a settlement fund, as well as investments by the Blues of hundreds of millions of dollars in system improvements for the benefit of providers. More importantly, in addition to the substantial damages fund, the settlement outlines crucial changes in the business relationship between Blue Cross Blue Shield Association member plans. The settlement also affects how the Blues process claims, communicate with, and make payments to healthcare providers.

All Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association will be held accountable by an appointed Monitoring Committee for five years after the effective date of the settlement, following the Court’s final approval. The Provider Plaintiffs assembled a work group consisting of different types of providers, including representatives of large healthcare systems, teaching hospitals, rural hospitals, physicians, ancillary providers, and medical and hospital associations which gave meaningful guidance throughout the process.