Litigation

Steward Health Care System v. Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island

Date Filed: June 4, 2013
Status: Pending
District Court: District of Rhode Island – Case No. 1:13-CV-00405
Nature of Suit: Antitrust
Defendant Type: Payer
Plaintiff Type: Private
Court Document: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/USCOURTS-rid-1_13-cv-00405/pdf/USCOURTS-rid-1_13-cv-00405-0.pdf

On June 4, 2013, Steward Health Care System, LLC, Blackstone Medical Center, Inc., and Blackstone Rehabilitation Hospital, Inc. filed a complaint in federal district court, alleging that the Defendant, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, violated state and federal antitrust law, and tortiously interfered with contractual relations, by engaging in a series of anticompetitive steps designed to block Steward’s acquisition of failing hospital Landmark and its entry into the Rhode Island markets for the sale of commercial health insurance and the purchase of commercial hospital services. In response, Blue Cross contended that it acted legally when it refused to accept the reimbursement rates at Landmark that Steward was offering, and otherwise operated within its rights in order to promote its business interests.

The federal court, on February 19. 2014, denied the defendants’ motion to dismiss the case. The district court tentatively granted defendant’s motion for summary judgment in November 2017, but upon further review, ultimately denied the MSJ in April 2018. In May 2018, the district court denied certification for interlocutory appeal of its decision to deny defendant’s MSJ. Blue Cross has filed a follow up motion for reconsideration for the April 2018 order and May 2018 interlocutory appeal. The plaintiffs in California’s putative class action Sidibe v. Sutter cited to this court’s denial in arguing against Sutter’s motion to dismiss in that case.


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