XPost: alt.health.systems, alt.business.insurance, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh   
   XPost: sac.politics   
   From: noreply@mixmin.net   
      
   The Justice Department on Friday accused one of Ohio's largest   
   healthcare systems of engaging in anticompetitive behavior that forces   
   patients to pay high prices for their healthcare.   
      
   The complaint, brought jointly by the Justice Department and Ohio   
   Attorney General against OhioHealth Corporation in the U.S. District   
   Court for the Southern District of Ohio, is the first civil antitrust   
   enforcement action by the department's Antitrust Division in about a   
   year, officials said.   
      
   It comes a week after Gail Slater, the division's Trump-appointed   
   assistant attorney general, was fired from her post amid rising tensions   
   with Attorney General Pam Bondi's office and replaced by Omeed Assefi,   
   who is serving in an acting capacity.   
      
   "The mission of the department under the leadership of Attorney General   
   Bondi and of this administration is to be laser-focused on   
   affordability," Assefi said in an interview Friday.   
      
   "What we want to do here is be as aggressive in enforcement as possible   
   because of the returns that come to everyday people."   
      
   "We have not yet been served with the complaint and it would be   
   inappropriate for us to comment on pending litigation," a spokesperson   
   for OhioHealth told CBS News.   
      
   OhioHealth owns or manages 16 hospitals and outpatient facilities and is   
   the dominant hospital system in the Columbus area. It competes with Ohio   
   State University Wexner Medical Center, and with the Mount Carmel Health   
   System, which is owned by Trinity Health.   
      
   The complaint alleges that since at least 2003, OhioHealth's contractual   
   restrictions have prevented commercial health insurance companies from   
   offering lower-cost plans to patients.   
      
   "These restrictions deprive patients of a choice among a full spectrum   
      
   of competitive health insurance plans, where patients could decide for   
   themselves whether going to OhioHealth for care is worth the high prices   
   it charges. If such plans were available, the employers and patients who   
   choose them would benefit immediately from lower premiums and   
   out-of-pocket costs," the complaint alleges.   
      
   Justice Department officials told CBS News that OhioHealth has about a   
   40% market share, and it has negotiated prices with insurance companies   
   that are about 50% higher than competitors.   
      
   They added that the investigation into OhioHealth has been underway for   
   several years and is one of several ongoing probes into dominant   
   healthcare systems across the U.S.   
      
   The most recent similar case was settled in 2018 with Charlotte, North   
   Carolina-based Atrium Health, formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare   
   System. It involved similar claims of anticompetitive steering   
   restrictions in contracts between commercial health insurers and   
   Carolinas HealthCare System providers.   
      
   "The enforcement agenda is very much alive and thriving," Assefi told   
   CBS.   
      
   https://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-antitrust-civil-complaint-ohiohealth-blo   
   cking-patients-access-affordable-healthcare/   
      
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