In 2012 an “antitrust” class action suit was filed against the Nation’s 36 Blue Cross plans, alleging the Blue Cross Association rules prevented fair competition. In the Fall of 2020, there was a “proposed” settlement of $2.7 Billion dollars that would distribute dollars back to Blue Cross customers that had policies between 2/07/2008 and 10/16/2020. The Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, in partnership with the “local” Blue Cross plan(s) & the settlement administrator gave notice to eligible employer groups (and some individual employees) information about the proposed settlement and how they can register as a member of the class. Eligible employers had a deadline of November 2021 to register/file a claim as a member of the class, and the past 5 years have shown a number of delays & appeals.

On April 24, 2026, the judge in this case finally signed the order to begin settlement fund distribution! Settlement check distribution began in May of 2026, and we have seen the first round of checks being received by individuals and employer groups. Again, the potential “class members” were employers (and employees) that were covered by a BCBS plan in any state during the eligible period. DSP communicated the details of this settlement to our clients back in 2021 and provided information on the background & process to register as a class member (if desired). Insurance brokers & consultants are not involved in the settlement process or administration and will not know if an employer registered to join the class for a potential distribution (deadline to register was November 2021). Since the settlement administrator (JND Legal Administration) has begun issuing checks to qualifying employers who joined the class, we anticipate many employers receiving checks may not have context on why they are receiving a check. Significant time since this started, combined with changes in staff at different employer groups likely put this issue out of mind for many companies.

SETTLEMENT CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR – JND Legal Administration

JND created a webpage specific to this class action and settlement: www.bcbssettlement.com: The site provided detailed information about the settlement, FAQ, and web portal to register as a class member/file a claim. Individual Blue-branded companies typically did not provide any information to plan sponsors or plan members. As the “defendants” in this case they deferred to the settlement administrator for any questions from individuals and employers.

NOTIFICATION FROM SETTLEMENT CLAIMS ADMINISTRATOR

All of the “Blue” plans supplied information to the settlement administrator about employers who have sponsored a Blue-branded plan from 2008-2020 (or 2015-2020 for self-insured plans), and some individual plan members. With this information, they reached out to employers/plan members via email (and in some cases by regular mail with the most recent address the Blue-branded plan had on file) from: BCBSnotice@BCBSsettlement.com. The notice contained a “unique ID” that was needed to file a claim. At the time this process started in 2021, the settlement had not been finalized. Even so, the process for filing a claims began in anticipation of the proposed settlement being finalized.

JND Legal Administration is the only authorized settlement administrator, and we have seen a number of companies contacting employers with offers to “assist” in the process and charge a fee to do so. In reality, the process for an employer or individual to register as a member of the class took 8-10 minutes to complete on the settlement website, and in most cases no further action was needed.

SETTLEMENT AMOUNT

The actual amount of the settlement funds allocated to each employer will depend on the number of participants that filed claims as part of the class, the headcount/duration of coverage for those that participate in the class, final approved settlement, and separately the final approved attorney’s fees (proposed at over $600 million). There were some delays caused by hearings on proposed attorney’s fees, individual Blue plan responsibility, and several appeals. Thankfully, the process has run itself out and claims began processing.

Only the settlement administrator has specific class member information; the BCBS plans or insurance brokers/consultants have no ability to field requests for information. Most questions can be answered by the settlement administrator direct at www.bcbssettlement.com, or info@BCBSsettlement.com. We have found the website to be very comprehensive, and information laid out in an easy-to-read format. The FAQ page can be found here: FAQs | Blue Cross Blue Shield Antitrust Settlement (bcbssettlement.com). There was a separate settlement of $2.8 billion dollars approved in August of 2025 for eligible medical providers (medical professionals, facilities, etc.) who filed a claim based on that class action eligibility.