The Blue Cross Blue and Blue Shield Association and the health plan subscribers who brought an antitrust challenge to its core business model got preliminary approval from a federal judge in Alabama for a $2.67 billion settlement concluding their proposed class action.
Judge R. David Proctor gave his tentative blessing to the agreement, which would resolve the subscribers’ claims in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. The suit accuses dozens of independent insurers affiliated with BCBS of illegally carving up the U.S. health insurance market into regional “service areas” to avoid having to compete with one ...