Ford Motor Co. sued Blue Pass Blue Safe Affiliation in U.S. courtroom on Wednesday, accusing it of a price-fixing conspiracy that led to the automaker to pay inflated prices for condition insurance coverage merchandise for its staff.
The lawsuit Ford filed in Detroit federal courtroom accused the condition insurer and its regional Michigan department of unlawfully dividing up portions of the rustic in a scheme to shed pageant with every alternative to deliver to pressure “astronomical profits.”
The allegations from Ford, using greater than 170,000 staff international, relate to a $2.7 billion agreement that Blue Pass Blue Safe Affiliation and its 3 lot member firms reached in 2020 with company and person coverage holders in Alabama federal courtroom.
Ford opted out of that agreement, now on attraction on the Atlanta-based eleventh U.S. Circuit Court docket of Appeals, to deliver to pursue its personal claims. The appeals courtroom assuredly to fast-track its attention of the agreement.
A spokesperson for defendant Blue Pass Blue Safe Affiliation declined to touch upon pending litigation. A consultant from Blue Pass Blue Safe of Michigan additionally declined to remark.
Ford didn’t instantly reply to a message in the hunt for remark concerning the lawsuit, and a legal professional for the corporate declined to remark.
Within the 40-page criticism, Ford stated the alleged scheme to curb pageant amongst Blue Pass Blue Safe organizations disadvantaged the car producer of “the opportunity to purchase health insurance products and services from a lower cost competitor and/or at a price set by the free market.”
The lawsuit seeks to bar Blue Pass Blue Safe’s alleged anticompetitive behavior, and it additionally seeks triple damages and alternative therapies.
Ford stated it had spent greater than $500 million on premiums since 2009 for “fully insured” merchandise for workers in designated farmlands within the situation, consistent with the criticism.
Ford’s lawsuit stated Blue Pass Blue Safe of Michigan is the rustic’s 9th greatest insurer in response to its 4.5 million enrollees.
