‘Filed Rate Doctrine’ Bars Consumer Claims Against Insurers, Trust

The “filed rate doctrine” blocks a proposed class suit brought by employers and individuals who alleged that health insurance premiums charged by affiliated health insurers and a health insurance trust violated Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, the state supreme court ruled March 2 (McCarthy Fin., Inc. v. Premera, 2015 BL 94576, Wash., 90533-9, 4/2/15).

The Washington Supreme Court ruled that employers and individual policyholders couldn’t sue to recover the alleged premium overcharges from the insurers—Premera, Premera Blue Cross and LifeWise Health Plan of Washington—or the Washington Alliance for Healthcare Insurance Trust because those rates were approved by the ...