Judge Says Blue Cross Blue Shield Must Face Ford Lawsuit

Last June, Ford filed a lawsuit against insurance giant Blue Cross Blue Shield that accuses the company of engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy that forced the automaker to pay higher costs for its employees’ health insurance products. Ford also claims that the insurance company divided up different parts of the U.S. in an effort to reduce competition and drive profits. This filing wasn’t baseless, as Blue Cross Blue Shield was ordered to pay $2.7 billion to other corporate and individual policy holders via a separate lawsuit that was settled back in 2020, which Ford opted out of. BCBS later asked a judge to dismiss Ford’s lawsuit against it, but that same judge has now ruled in the automaker’s favor, according to Reuters.

U.S. District Judge Linda Parker ruled that Ford has thus far presented adequate proof that BCBS may have overcharged it for commercial health insurance products, which means that the legal process will indeed continue. Judge Parker also stated that Ford could pursue claims over higher premiums and costs for “administrative services only products,” which somewhat narrows the scope of the automaker’s allegations.

In the lawsuit, Ford claims that it spent more than $500 million on insurance premiums secured through BCBS since 2009, noting that Blue Cross Blue Shield engaged in a conspiracy to artificially inflate the automaker’s insurance premiums and commercial health insurance services, depriving it of “the opportunity to purchase health insurance products and services from a lower cost competitor and/or at a price set by the free market.”

BCBS continues to claim that it did nothing wrong, and previously argued that Ford hasn’t yet presented adequate proof that it was blocked from purchasing insurance products from another provider, and also added that the automaker’s claims were outside of the relevant time frame in antitrust law in which a lawsuit can be filed.

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