Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Antitrust Suit Against Blue Cross, Blue Shield Plan Filed on Behalf of Hawaii Subscribers, (Apr 26, 2013)

By Jeffrey May, J.D.

A putative class action antitrust complaint has been filed in the federal district court in Honolulu against Hawaii Medical Service Association and Blue Cross and Blue Association (BCBSA). The complaint was brought on behalf of similarly-situated subscribers of Hawaii Medical Service Association (BCBS-Hawaii) on April 23. The case is Hakkert-Detaille v. Hawaii Medical Service Assn., Case 1:13-cv-00191-HG-BMK.

The plaintiffs allege a market allocation conspiracy involving BCBS-Hawaii and the 37 other BCBSA member health plans. The BCBSA members are potential competitors that use their control of BCBSA to coordinate their activities, according to the complaint. The plaintiffs also allege that BCBS-Hawaii engaged in monopolization. The market share enjoyed by BCBS-Hawaii is the direct result of the conspiracy between BCBSA members, it was alleged.

BCBS-Hawaii is the largest health insurance company operating in Hawaii. According to the complaint, as of 2011, at least 69 percent of Hawaii residents who subscribe to full-service commercial health insurance are subscribers of BCBS-Hawaii.

There are two named plaintiffs. One is an individual who has been enrolled in an individual BCBS-Hawaii health insurance policy since 2008. The other is a business that has purchased BCBS-Hawaii health insurance to cover its three employees since around 2000. They allege violations of federal and state antitrust law and seek damages on behalf of similarly-situated subscribers in the form of inflated BCBS-Hawaii premiums.

The Hawaii suit is the latest is a series of antitrust actions filed recently against BCBSA and its plans around the country. In December 2012, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation (JPML) centralized a number of private antitrust actions against BCBSA for pre-trial proceedings in the federal district court in Birmingham, Alabama.

Attorneys: Margery S. Bronster (Bronster Hoshibata) for plaintiffs.

Companies: Blue Cross and Blue Shield Assn.; Hawaii Medical Service Assn.

News: Antitrust