Originally published Oct. 14 on IdahoCapitalSun.com .
An Idaho judge dismissed Blue Cross of Idaho’s lawsuit seeking to invalidate a $1.1 billion contract to provide health insurance to Idaho government employees.
Idaho 4th District Judge Joseph Borton ruled on Sept. 27 that Blue Cross didn’t have standing in its lawsuit.
That means Regence BlueShield of Idaho remains Idaho’s government employee health insurer.
Blue Cross, which held the contract since 2004, alleged Idaho used an unlawful, new process to award the contract. Meridian-based insurer Blue Cross is considering appealing the decision, spokesperson Bret Rumbeck told the Idaho Capital Sun.
Borton wrote in his ruling that even “construing the record in a light most favorable to Plaintiff (Blue Cross) the Court does not find that Plaintiff suffered any injury in fact; its contract effectively expired according to its terms.”
The judge wrote that he didn’t “find evidence to establish” that the new contracting process, called an invitation to negotiate, “was causally connected to the expiration and nonrenewal of the health insurance contract between Plaintiff and the State.”