Remember back in May, when Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) settled for a cool $2.67 billion in a highly publicized antitrust case?
We sure do.
Here’s a refresher: The BCBS Association was sued in 2012 in a class-action case alleging anti-competitive behavior and collusion. Nearly a decade later, BCBS agreed to settle and also agreed to, per their website: Make changes to the way they do business to increase opportunities for competition in the health insurance market.”
Well, some big businesses are saying it hasn’t happened yet.
According to an article in Becker’s Hospital Review, on September 4th, FedEx, Boeing, Meijer, and Walgreens filed an antitrust complaint, claiming that both BCBS and Anthem aimed to use their market leverage, size, and reach to influence employer-sponsored health insurance plans and thereby stifle competition.
Same song, different tune.
Businesses are tired of BCBS monopolizing the market, with the suit alleging limited options and high costs.
We know President Joe Biden and the U.S. Department of Justice have antitrust issues on the brain, so will we see more action or just more of the same? Because it seems like the first settlement didn’t do a whole lot.
How does the old adage go? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on…?”
We’ll let you fill in the rest.
