US: Blue Cross affiliate’s policy violates antitrust law says DOJ

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida’s exclusionary agreements with insurance brokers are unlawful and violate antitrust law despite a district court’s approval of the contracts, the Justice Department said. 

The US District Court for the Middle District of Florida mischaracterized the contracts as necessary to the business of insurance when it declared them lawful in a Sept. 2019 ruling, the DOJ’s antitrust division said Jan 7.

The government’s brief, which was filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, sides with health insurance broker Oscar Insurance Company of Florida in its 2018 antitrust case against Blue Cross.