The envelopes are beginning to come in. It’s a check for some people. For others, an email from an address most people would consider spam. The Blue Cross Blue Shield antitrust settlement is finally putting money in the hands of those who waited the longest after fourteen years of legal back and forth, and the mood among those receiving payments seems to fall somewhere between relief and a quiet shrug.
The story really started in 2012 when a group of policyholders decided something didn’t add up after looking at their premiums. The following year, they filed a lawsuit alleging that the BCBS federation had an agreement that prevented its 33 affiliated insurers from competing in each other’s markets. The argument was that higher prices resulted from less competition. Although Blue Cross ultimately consented to a $2.67 billion settlement in October 2020 rather than pursue a verdict, the company continues to deny it. It seems that no one was interested in learning the jury’s verdict.
The disappointment starts to show in the payout calculations. Before the November 2021 deadline, about six million people filed claims. If you divide a settlement pool that size by the number of claimants, then deduct attorney fees and administrative costs, you arrive at payments that most outlets estimate to be no more than $300 per person. Some people will get less. It’s difficult to ignore how frequently these significant antitrust headlines result in pocket change by the time the checks clear as you watch this play out. When you divide a billion dollars among the population of a small city, it seems insurmountable.
However, the payments are important for reasons other than just the money. Additionally, the settlement compels BCBS to make structural changes that will alter how affiliated insurers can function and compete with one another. The plaintiffs believe that these changes will reshape the market in ways that won’t be visible on any member’s premium statement but may subtly alter pricing over the course of the next ten years. It’s another matter entirely whether that truly occurs. Insurance companies are adept at adjusting to consent orders without actually losing much ground.
The procedure seems almost strangely contemporary to those who receive prepaid cards. To anyone who didn’t keep a close eye on this case, an email from distribution@BCBSsettlement.com, a redemption portal, and an activation code entered into a website likely appear to be phishing attempts. Settlementpayment.choicepaymenthub.com is the official redemption site, and the cautions to double-check before clicking are not hyperbole because scammers frequently follow these settlements like seagulls follow a fishing boat.
This timeline has an almost antiquated feel to it. filed in 2013. resolved in 2020. approved over the ensuing years through appeals. paid in 2026. In the meantime, premiums continued to rise, networks continued to shrink, and the majority of subscribers were unaware that they were even a part of a class action until the email arrived this spring. Lawsuits in the American health insurance sector proceed at the speed of a slow river.
Beyond the payouts, the case’s larger question remains unanswered. Did the agreements between BCBS plans result in higher premiums? No decision was made by the court. The settlement avoided it. A small check and an ambiguous promise of a more competitive future were given to the customers. Although it’s still unclear if that future will differ significantly from the past, the wait is at least over for the millions of people who will be opening envelopes this month.
