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US: Blue Cross and Blue Shield faces antitrust suit

By  |  May 27, 2015

An antitrust lawsuit advancing in a federal court in Alabama alleges that the 37 independently owned companies liked to Blue Cross Blue Shield are functioning as an illegal cartel, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurers cover about a third of Americans, through a national network that dates back decades. A federal judicial panel has consolidated the claims against the insurers into two lawsuits that represent plaintiffs from around the country.

The antitrust suits allege that the insurers are conspiring to divvy up markets and avoid competing against one another, driving up customers’ prices and pushing down the amounts paid to doctors and other health-care providers.

 

Full content: The Wall Street Journal

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