News

April 29, 2021 - Update

Many UT SELECT and UT CONNECT participants may have recently received an email notification about a federal court settlement in late 2020 related to a class action antitrust lawsuit involving Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). Please note the important information included here regarding the settlement in relation to your UT Benefits coverage.

• Email notices were sent out by the contracted settlement administrator to UT SELECT and UT CONNECT members with email addresses on file within the Blue Access for Members (BAM) system. Many of these emails were automatically routed to spam or junk folders. The email is from a legitimate source but the settlement being referenced is NOT applicable for the UT SELECT and UT CONNECT plans.
• Government plans and their participants, including UT SELECT and UT CONNECT, are NOT included in the settlement class and therefore are NOT eligible to participate in the settlement. 

• The exclusion of government plans was a determination made as part of the original lawsuit and subsequent federal court proceeding. It is expressly stated as part of the settlement agreement and is not negotiable.
• Individuals who participated as a primary subscriber in another BCBS health plan outside of the UT Benefits program dating as far back as February 2008 through as recently as mid-October 2020 may wish to verify whether they are eligible to participate in the settlement by following the instructions in the email notice or on the BCBS Settlement website.

This information is the extent of what the UT System Office of Employee Benefits is able to share regarding this settlement. The best resource for additional information about the settlement itself, the applicable time frame in which it applies, who is eligible to make a claim, and how to proceed if you believe you may be eligible is the BCBS Settlement website.