March 29, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Blue Cross to settle suit over hospital discounts

PORTLAND — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Maine has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging that the insurer failed to give subscribers the discounted rates it had negotiated with hospitals.

About 236,000 current and former subscribers will be eligible to share in approximately $298,000. But not everyone will get money, and only those who paid significant sums for hospital care between 1991 and 1997 will receive much from the settlement.

The lawsuit stems from cases filed two years ago by a handful of subscribers. They charged that Blue Cross based co-insurance payments on billed charges, instead of the discounted rates the insurer negotiated with hospitals.

Blue Cross said the savings were passed on to all subscribers in the form of lower insurance costs.


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