A wave of companies has sued Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michiganfor allegedly charging unauthorized fees to their healthplans.

An HRDive report says that the employers allege that BCBSis attempting to boost revenues without upsetting consumers byskimming employers. The list of plaintiffs, the report adds,includes colleges, hospitals and companies in the auto and plasticindustries.

HRDive cites a Legal Reader report pointing out that BlueCross’s “alleged unsavory business practices” reach back as far asthe 1980s, when the company imposed surcharges on customers whothen left. As a result, Blue Cross was reported to have replacedthe fees with hidden markups that were no longer visible to thecustomers — and what they couldn’t see, they couldn’t objectto.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals characterized thecompany’s actions as warranting an extension of the statute oflimitations, thus allowing lawsuits occurring years after the feeswere imposed to move forward. A 2014 appeals court decision saidBlue Cross violated the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) andforced it to pay $6 million as a settlement.

The report says that one employer, Williams Chevrolet, Inc.,said it sent money to BCBSM to pay employees’ health care claims,but the insurer also skimmed administrative fees to pay claims.Legal Reader says more lawsuits against BCBSM are likely.

HRDive points out that with health care costs continuing to riseso quickly, and employers likely facing a predicted 5 percent risein medical and pharmacy benefits in 2018 for the fifth straightyear, HR managers need to be able “to account forevery health care expense their organizations incur.” The articlesuggests that auditors periodically assess company health careplans for shortages and discrepancies. “Contracts should be clearlywritten and airtight to make breaching hard to do and easier todetect,” it cautions, adding, “ERISA also requires fiduciaries toprovide plan participants with a grievance and appeals process, andallow participants to sue if fiduciaries breach theirresponsibilities.”