Anthem Blue Cross Paper Bill Fee Class Action Settlement

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A California judge has preliminarily approved a class action lawsuit settlement between Anthem Blue Cross and customers that accused the insurer of charging an illegal fee for paper billing statements. The settlement will provide over $4 million in refunds to more than 600,000 policyholders who paid the improper $2 paper bill fee between 2007 and 2012.

The Anthem Blue Cross settlement resolves a 2011 class action lawsuit (Andrea Kreuzhage et al. v. Blue Cross of California et al.) that challenged certain fees the insurer charged, including a $2 fee charged to those who opted to pay through paper bills rather than other forms of billing, such as automatic withdrawal. Plaintiffs claimed it was illegal for Anthem to charge and collect these $2 paper bill fees.

Anthem denies any wrongdoing but has agreed to establish a class action lawsuit settlement fund that will provide $4.2 million in refunds and another $20 million in savings to eligible policyholders.

Class Members of the Anthem paper bill fee settlement include all subscribers of an individual health plan or policy issued by Anthem L&H or Blue Cross who paid a $2 paper bill fee from September 27, 2007 through December 10, 2012 and who do not exclude themselves from the settlement class.

Under the class action settlement, Anthem has agreed to reimburse a portion of those collected paper bill fees to its subscribers and to permanently refrain from imposing any paper bill fees in the future.

Class Members do not have to file a Claim Form to receive a refund. Each Class Member will automatically receive payment unless they timely exclude themselves from the class.

More information on the Anthem Blue Cross Billing Fee Class Action Lawsuit Settlement can be found at www.AnthemFeeSettlement.com.

The case is Andrea Kreuzhage et al. v. Blue Cross of California et al., Case No. BC470460, Superior Court of the State of California, County of Los Angeles.

UPDATE: Anthem fee settlement checks were mailed to policyholders on March 17, 2014.