Blue Cross Win In "Most Favored Nation" Clause Antitrust Case

On March 30, United States District Court Judge Denise Page Hood (E.D. Mich.) handed Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan a victory, dismissing an antitrust action filed against it by the City of Pontiac in which the City alleged that Blue Cross's use of "most favored nation" clauses in its provider contracts violated the antitrust laws. (City of Pontiac v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Case No. 11-10276, Eastern District of Michigan).

The action, which was filed by the City in January of 2011 against Blue Cross and twenty-two Michigan hospitals, alleged that the defendants' inclusion of "most favored nation" clauses in their provider contracts, requiring the hospitals to charge other insurers more than they charged to Blue Cross for provider services, constituted a per se violation of the antitrust laws.