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The purpose of antitrust cases is to promote competition and prevent monopolies. This is particularly important in healthcare because a lack of competition may lead to high prices or reduced access for patients. Most antitrust lawsuits in the healthcare industry involve mergers and acquisitions as well as collaborations and partnerships between pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.
In 2017, the United States against Anthem Inc. case is a recent antitrust case that occurred in healthcare. Anthem, a large U.S. health insurance company, wanted to merge with Cigna. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit to stop the merger. They argued that this would result in reduced competition for consumers and increased prices. After the trial, a federal court sided with Justice Department, blocking the merge.
United States v. Atrium Health is another case that occurred in 2019. Atrium Health was accused by the United States of using their market power in North Carolina to keep out other providers. Atrium Health had been accused, in particular, of using clauses to prevent insurers from steering patients towards lower-cost providers. Atrium Health agreed to settle the case and remove anti-steering provisions from their contracts.
Sutter Health, a large healthcare provider in Northern California was accused of using its market power to drive up prices for healthcare services. Sutter Health was accused by the United States of abusing its market position to increase prices. The case alleged that Sutter Health used various tactics to prevent competition from other healthcare providers, such as requiring insurers to contract with all of Sutter Health’s facilities instead of just the ones that were necessary for patient care. Sutter Health agreed to settle the case and pay $575,000,000, as well as make changes to their contracting policies.
The antitrust cases in healthcare have had a significant impact on law and the power brokers. These cases have created a precedent that regulators will closely monitor healthcare mergers, collaborations and partnerships to make sure they don’t harm the competition. These mergers and collaborations have led to changes to the contracts of insurers and healthcare providers to encourage competition and lower costs.
In order to lead the healthcare industry, you need to know about these antitrust lawsuits and their implications. When considering mergers or collaborations, healthcare leaders must be cautious to avoid violating antitrust laws. They must also know the practices their companies use when it comes to contracting in order to avoid anticompetitive behaviors. Leaders in healthcare can benefit from improving access to health care through promoting competitiveness and cutting costs.