Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST—JPML: Antitrust Suits Against Blue Cross Blue Shield, Plans Centralized, (Dec 14, 2012)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

Nine antitrust actions concerning licensing agreements between and among the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) and its 38 licensees (Blue Plans) pending in three federal district courts have been centralized for pre-trial proceedings by the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) in the federal district court in Birmingham, Alabama (In re: Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Litigation, December 12, 2012, Heyburn, J.). Seven related actions, brought on behalf of Blue Plan subscribers and health care providers, were already pending in that district.

The suits allege that the 38 Blue Plans are independent health insurance companies that would compete with one another, but for an agreement to the contrary. Working together with and through the BCBSA, the Blue Plans divided and allocated among themselves health insurance markets throughout the nation in violation of Sections 1 and 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, as well as various related state laws, it is alleged.

The actions involve substantial common questions of fact relating to the state BCBS entities’ relationship with the national association, BCBSA, and the licensing agreements that limit the Blue Plans’ activity to exclusive service areas, among other restrictions. The JPML rejected arguments that there were too few pending actions, that discovery would focus on each Blue Plan’s activity in a specific market, and that several potentially dispositive state-specific issues would be prominent in each action.

The case is MDL No. 2406.

Cases: Antitrust