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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolinas (BCBSNC) says the federal government is trying to run out on a bill that amounts to $147.5 million in overdue risk-corridor payments. The Justice Department counters that the suitโ€”along with several others that revolve around the 3-year-old programโ€”is premature because any payments wouldnโ€™t be due until next year at the earliest. BCBSNC is eager to have its day in court though, and says the governmentโ€™s defense is โ€œrevisionist history.โ€ The insurer says the risk-corridor program was key to its joining the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or โ€œObamacareโ€) insurance exchange in the state. The government promoted the risk-corridor program as a way for qualified health plans to limit financial risk for years. More recently, though, it has claimed the risk-corridor plan was meant to be budget-neutral. The Justice Department’s pivot started in early October, after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said it would not make its 2015 risk-corridor payments because the collections would be used to pay a $2.5 billion gap in program funding from 2014.

North Carolina Blues Throw Down the Gauntlet with Feds
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