BCBS Settlement Missouri — Anthem & BlueKC Dual-Plan State

Missouri is one of a small number of states served by two separate BCBS-licensed insurers operating in distinct geographic territories. Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri (operated by Elevance Health, formerly Anthem Inc.) covers the St. Louis metro, most of the state's eastern counties, and rural Missouri. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (BlueKC) — an independent nonprofit and the oldest BCBS licensee west of the Mississippi — covers the Kansas City metro and surrounding northwest-Missouri counties. The two plans do not compete against each other; that geographic market division is precisely what the antitrust lawsuit challenged.

Missouri residents who held fully-insured individual or group coverage through either Anthem BCBS of Missouri or BlueKC between February 7, 2008 and October 16, 2020, or were covered through a self-funded account between September 1, 2015 and October 16, 2020, and who filed a valid claim by November 5, 2021, are eligible for the initial distribution beginning May 11, 2026.

Where you live does not change how your payment is calculated. The court-approved plan pays claimants in Missouri exactly as it pays everyone else: your share is your “Recognized Claim” — built from the premiums (for self-funded accounts, the administrative fees) the Blue plan's records show you paid during the class period — divided by everyone's, multiplied by the net fund. The settlement publishes no state rankings, market-share weights or state payout ranges; dollar ranges quoted for individual states are estimates, not official figures.

The money is split into two pots that are paid separately: $1.78 billion for individuals, insured groups and their employees, and $120 million for self-funded accounts and their employees. Divided across the 7,774,992 claims the court approved, the average is about $244 a claim. As a rough rule of thumb (our arithmetic, not an official rate), the individual and insured-group pot pays about 54 cents per $100 of premiums: $10,000 in premiums works out to about $54, and $60,000 to about $325.

Under the court's April 24, 2026 order, shares under $200 are paid in full in the first distribution, which began May 11, 2026. Shares of $200 or more receive about 90% now, with 10% of the fund held in reserve for a later distribution. Any claimant whose share calculates to $5.00 or less receives nothing.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Missouri is operated by Elevance Health (rebranded from Anthem Inc. in 2022, formerly WellPoint). It serves the St. Louis metro area, most of eastern Missouri, and the majority of the state's rural counties under an exclusive BCBS territory license. Missouri state employees in the St. Louis region and many private employers statewide use Anthem BCBS as their primary carrier. Coverage under the Blue Access, Blue Access Choice, or Preferred-Care Blue networks — all Anthem BCBS MO products — qualifies for the settlement.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas City (BlueKC) is an independent nonprofit headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. It is not affiliated with Anthem or Elevance Health. BlueKC is the exclusive BCBS licensee for the Kansas City metro and surrounding northwest Missouri counties. It is the oldest Blue Cross plan west of the Mississippi. BlueKC was a named Settling Defendant in the antitrust litigation and confirmed its members' eligibility at bluekc.com. Coverage through BlueKC's fully insured commercial plans during 2008–2020 qualifies for the Subscriber settlement.

Payments to Missouri claimants come from the same national fund as everyone else's, under the court's April 24, 2026 distribution order (the settlement itself received final approval on August 9, 2022). The administrator, JND Legal Administration, began the initial distribution on May 11, 2026 and sends payments in batches by the method chosen on the claim — for example a prepaid card, with an activation email from distribution@bcbssettlement.com, or a mailed check. No state or regional schedule has been published, and the settlement reports no claim counts or amounts by state.

Only claimants who filed by the November 5, 2021 deadline are paid; no new claims are accepted. Shares of $5.00 or less receive nothing, shares under $200 are paid in full, and shares of $200 or more receive about 90% now, with 10% of the fund held for a second distribution that has no date yet. Checks are void if not cashed within 90 days. To see where your claim stands, use “Check my Claim Status” on bcbssettlement.com with your Unique ID or Claim Number, or call (888) 681-1142.

• Government accounts are excluded: coverage bought by the State of Missouri, its counties and cities, tribes or the federal government — whether the plan was self-funded or fully insured. That includes the State of Missouri's own employee health plan.
• Federal Employee Program (FEP) coverage is excluded as a federal government account.
• Quasi-government accounts are included if they chose their own fully insured or self-funded Blue plan — for example school districts, utilities, port and transportation authorities, government-funded hospitals and public retiree benefit plans. The administrator decides individual cases: (888) 681-1142.
• Self-funded employer plans are not excluded: they and their employees share a separate $120 million fund, for coverage from September 1, 2015 to October 16, 2020.
• Medicare Advantage policies are not part of the settlement; Medicare Supplement (Medigap) policies are, if the coverage dates fit.
• Dependents and beneficiaries, including minors on a parent's plan, are not paid; the subscriber or employee who paid the premium is.
• Coverage from insurers outside the Blue system does not count.

Source: the official settlement FAQ at bcbssettlement.com (questions 7–9 and 12).