![\"Broward](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/IMG_hospital_2_1_2M8NRE6G_L239095031.jpeg\" "\\"Broward")
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Broward Health has sued Florida Blue over emergency care payments.<\/p>\n
The ongoing dispute<\/a> between Broward County\u2019s public hospitals and Florida Blue has escalated, with one of the hospitals suing the health insurer over allegations that it has refused to pay or underpaid the hospital for providing out-of-network emergency care and services.<\/p>\n Broward Health, which is one of the largest public hospital systems in the country and primarily serves northern Broward, is asking the court to decide how much Florida Blue, formerly known as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, is required to pay for the out-of-network and \u201cmedically necessary\u201d emergency care provided to Florida Blue members.<\/p>\n The health system says it wants the health insurer to pay up, with 12% interest per year, for the out-of-network emergency care provided to Florida Blue members since the health system went out-of-network in July, according to the complaint filed last month in Broward circuit court. The suit says that the \u201camount in controversy exceeds $750,000, exclusive of interest, costs and attorneys fees\u201d and involves emergency claims filed for care provided to patients who have commercial health plans through Florida Blue, including from the ACA marketplace.<\/p>\n \u201cFlorida Blue does not comment on pending litigation,\u201d Jorge Martinez, a spokesman for the health insurer, told the Miami Herald on Wednesday. Broward Health did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n What led up to the lawsuit<\/p>\n Florida Blue is one of the largest health insurers in the state and provides coverage to one-third of the state\u2019s population. Like most health insurers, it\u2019s required by law to cover emergency care at Broward Health and other ERs at in-network rates, even if the emergency room is out-of-network. However, while ER doctors decide the necessary treatment, health insurers are the ones that ultimately determine whether the provided services fall under emergency care for in-network rates.<\/p>\n But Florida Blue \u201chas either denied the claims in question (in whole or part) or paid the claims in part\u201d but has done so \u201cat rates below both Broward Health\u2019s billed charges and the usual and customary provider charges for similar services in the community in which they were rendered,\u201d according to the lawsuit.<\/p>\n Court records show that Florida Blue has until May 14 to file a response against Broward Health\u2019s complaint.<\/p>\n READ NEXT: What Florida Blue members in Broward should know about billing, ER and other care<\/a><\/p>\n The argument is similar to the one Broward Health and Memorial Healthcare System, the public health system that primarily serves southern Broward, have been making throughout their ongoing and lengthy contract disputes with Florida Blue. The hospitals have accused Florida Blue of underpaying them compared to similar South Florida health providers and insurers. Florida Blue has accused the Broward hospitals of wanting too much money.<\/p>\n The disputes, which began last year, have dragged out for an unusually long time and left thousands of people locked out of in-network care<\/a> at the public hospital systems. All three continue to say that they are working to reach a deal.<\/p>\n Michelle Marchante<\/a><\/p>\n Miami Herald<\/p>\n Michelle Marchante covers the pulse of healthcare in South Florida and also the City of Coral Gables. Before that, she covered the COVID-19 pandemic, hurricanes, crime, education, entertainment and other topics in South Florida for the Herald as a breaking news reporter. She recently won first place in the health reporting category in the 2025 Sunshine State Awards for her coverage of Steward Health\u2019s bankruptcy. An investigative series about the abrupt closure of a Miami heart transplant program led Michelle and her colleagues to be recognized as finalists in two 2024 Florida Sunshine State Award categories. She also won second place in the 73rd annual Green Eyeshade Awards for her consumer-focused healthcare stories and was part of the team of reporters who won a 2022 Pulitzer Prize for the Miami Herald\u2019s breaking news coverage of the Surfside building collapse. Michelle graduated with honors from Florida International University and was a 2025 National Press Foundation Covering Workplace Mental Health fellow and a 2020-2021 Poynter-Koch Media & Journalism fellow.\u00a0
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