Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Miss. v. Coast Diagnostics, LLC

• Decision Date: 05 July 2022
• Docket Number: Civil Action 3:22-CV-58-DPJ-FKB
• Court: U.S. District Court — Southern District of Mississippi
• Parties: BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF MISSISSIPPI, A MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLAINTIFF v. COAST DIAGNOSTICS, LLC DEFENDANT

BLUE CROSS & BLUE SHIELD OF MISSISSIPPI, A MUTUAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLAINTIFF
v.
COAST DIAGNOSTICS, LLC DEFENDANT

Civil Action No. 3:22-CV-58-DPJ-FKB

United States District Court, S.D. Mississippi, Northern Division

July 5, 2022

ORDER

DANIEL P. JORDAN III., CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE.

The parties dispute whether they entered a binding settlement agreement. Plaintiff Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi says they did and filed this suit for declaratory and injunctive relief, hoping to enforce the agreement. Defendant Coast Diagnostics, LLC, maintains that no meeting of the minds occurred and has therefore moved to dismiss the suit under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). See Def.'s Mot. [8]. Coast's motion to dismiss is denied.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Blue Cross is a Flowood, Mississippi, based mutual insurance company. In 2020, Coast, a clinical laboratory that is not in-network for Blue Cross members, “provided services related to COVID-19 testing of certain Blue Cross [m]embers . . . and submitted claims for reimbursement to Blue Cross in connection with its testing services.” Compl. [1] ¶ 7. “Blue Cross remitted payment for some claims for Coast's services to its [m]embers” instead of making payments directly to Coast. Id. ¶ 8.

On June 24, 2021, counsel for Coast sent Blue Cross a letter demanding payment of $588,783.69 for COVID-19 tests performed for Blue Cross members. The letter explained Coast's position that, under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act of 2020 (CARES Act) and the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020 (FFCRA), Blue Cross

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was required to make payments for COVID-19 testing services directly to Coast, not to Blue Cross's members who were then expected to make reimbursements. Blue Cross responded, denying it owed Coast any money.

“Over the following months, counsel for Coast and Blue Cross engaged in extensive communications concerning the parties' positions with respect to the requirements of the CARES Act and FFCRA and specific claim related issues, all in an effort to resolve the dispute.” Id. ¶ 11. For purposes of this motion, it is enough to say that communications stopped before the settlement documents were finalized and signed; no money changed hands. Sometime later, Coast indicated that there was no settlement, but Blue Cross's in-house attorney responded that Blue Cross “considers this matter settled by [Blue Cross's] agreement to pay the...