Questions About BCBS Class Action Settlement?

Transcript:

We’ve received a number of questions from ICS members about the Blue Cross Blue Shield settlement information that we kicked out a couple of months ago and that you probably have received some postcards about, and we wanted to bring you up to speed to answer a couple of your questions. First and foremost, this lawsuit is not specific to Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Illinois. It actually impacts Blue Cross, Blue Shield Association and many, if not all, of their contracting entities such as Blue Cross, Blue Shield of Illinois, Blue Cross, Blue Shield Empire and others across many, many other states, because they’re all licensed under the association. The idea behind the entire lawsuit, or the premise behind the lawsuit, was that they had carved out each of their geographic areas, and then we’re not able to actually market to companies within those other areas. So they, if they’re Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois, couldn’t necessarily market to companies that were located, say, in Tennessee or in Florida. And so the concept was that that would actually create a level of antitrust and ultimately prohibit good competition, and eventually drove up prices. Ultimately, that is the purpose for the lawsuit and where the large settlement amount was ultimately derived from.

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So, at the end of the day, here are the questions, and we want to make sure that you have those answers. First of all, it’s not specific to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois. Also, we’re getting questions about retaliation and saying, Hey, if I actually fill out this paperwork and request to be a part of this, is there going to be retaliation? And actually I had a conversation with our attorney about this. And first of all, it is not legal, right? It would not be legal for them to retaliate for those who would participate in this. And then second is, you’re going to be one of hundreds of 1000s of providers that are going to step into this particular settlement. And so even the likelihood, if it was legal, that they would retaliate, would be an incredibly small as well, just because of the sheer volume of providers and the size of this particular suit, there are large hospital systems that are including themselves in this particular lawsuit, and are not retaining their ability to to be able to sue separately on this specific issue. And so I just know that the retaliation, we truly believe that that the odds are incredibly small, and we don’t believe it would happen ultimately, because it would not be legal for them to do it would be an incredible risk for someone to go through those so don’t feel that way, and we want you to not make your decision based on fear, but instead based on the process and what the merits of the case are instead.

So that’s also important a couple of other things. As you’re going through the paperwork, if you have two or more providers, then you want to make sure that you’re choosing the Medical Group and organization, if you will, radial selection at the top of that particular form. If you are a single provider, make sure you choose a medical professional. And that’s pretty important in order for it to complete the process and for you to include all of the different providers that would be entailed in your submission and what you would be submitting for in the dollars and cents that you would be attaching to your particular claim, because you will actually include the dollars and cents of the allowable amounts that from a an extended period of time, because you’re talking about from a July of 2008 all the way through October of 2024 and so it’s a pretty broad spectrum of time, little over 16 years. And so you want to make sure that you appropriately include your numbers for that specific time frame. Also, when you’re going through and filling out that form, there are certain fields that have an asterisk, a red asterisk, that means it’s required. Those are required if you happen to not have the information for the fields that are not required and don’t scramble and try to kill yourself trying to find the numbers. Instead, just go ahead and leave those particular fields blank. I’ve had some say, hey, was I supposed to get some sort of identification number on the postcard? Do I need to find that postcard? I’ve lost the postcard. Don’t worry about it. You can leave that blank. That field is not required, and so that’s important. I would recommend one field that you would want to include that isn’t necessarily required, and that’s the NPI field. So definitely include your NPI, which is information that’s pretty readily available to you, and I would encourage you to go ahead and include that in that filing of the claim process.

Also, you’ve got to get that claim file brought by July 29 and so if you don’t get it done by then, then it will be as if you’re not a part of this and you can’t get so you can’t get any funds, and you can’t sue them for this issue. So if you choose not to participate in this one, it’s past the deadline to be able to sue them on your own. And two, you won’t receive any of the settlement funds that would be remaining. And just heads up for if you want to know some of the calculations, I could go through all of the big numbers with you and what’s being taken out for attorneys fees and court costs and for 92% going to the hospital systems, but in facilities, but the remaining portion is going to be divided amongst those providers which would be more like you, to the tune of about $152 million so we are talking about pretty sizable amounts of money and worth going ahead and taking the time to participate in if you choose to. And so I just want to make sure that you are aware of that as well, and hopefully, this information has helped you out. I believe that covers most of the questions that were being asked, and if you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to reach back out to the Illinois chiropractic society, or, more likely, just click the link down below. I think you’re going to find that it’s got everything you need to be able to get you off the ground and help you complete the process of participating. If you choose to participate in this particular segment, we’ll catch you next week.