Blue Cross suit might cause stickers shock.

• Author: Murray, Arthur O.
• Position: TAR HEEL TATTLER

It's hard not to see Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina in the role of Br'er Fox. You remember him from the Uncle Remus stories: He caught his nemesis, Br'er Rabbit, but then the fox allowed himself to be persuaded to punish the rabbit by throwing him in the briar patch--exactly where the rabbit wanted to be.

Blue Cross sued ProCare, a vocal critic of the Chapel Hill-based insurer, trying to silence its criticism. But hauling the advocacy group into court may amount to giving it a megaphone.

Doctors founded Raleigh-based ProCare in 2002 to thwart Blue Cross' plan to ditch its nonprofit status. ProCare won that battle but has continued to argue that Blue Cross acts too much like a for-profit business. It says internal documents posted on ProCare's Web site show the insurer spent nearly $500,000 on a hospitality suite and accommodations at the U.S. Open golf tournament in June at Pinehurst.

The lawsuit, filed July 1 in Wake County Superior Court, contends that ProCare conspired with an employee of the insurer to steal and publish the documents, giving competitors an unfair look inside its business. It asks the court to order ProCare to remove the material from its Web site, refrain from publishing any other purloined paperwork, return what it has and pay unspecified damages.

ProCare is run by the political odd couple of Republican...