In Aetna Inc. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Eastern Distict of Michigan Judge Denise Page Hood struck down Blue Cross’ motion to dismiss Aetna’s complaint alleging that Blue Cross Blue Shield entered antitcompetitive agreements prohibiting about half of the state’s 131 hospitals from offering more favorable terms to competing insurers. As a result, Aetna alleged, competitors had to pay higher medical care costs, preventing them from lowering premiums to compete with Blue Cross. The case follows on a Department of Justice prosecution making similar allegations. That case is scheduled for an April 2013 trial.
The court rejected the defendants’ claim that Aetna had alleged harm to only one competitor. Judge Hood explained that under Sixth Circuit law, “a dominant party” will trigger antitrust scrutiny when it “use[s] contracts and its current market dominance to establish unreasonable barriers to entry in the future.”