As per a ruling by an independent hearing judge today, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has been directed to hike the rates of its supplemental Medicare by no more than 3.8%, a figure much lower than the 36.7% the firm had sought.

According to the reports from the Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has decided to settle the lawsuit filed against it by families of young children with autism who were denied coverage for certain behavioral therapies, by providing an estimated $1 million in reimbursements to around 100 families.

The country's leading health insurers, America's Health Insurance Plans and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Assn., said they would be willing to charge less premiums from sick people if coverage for all Americans was made mandatory.