Non-Compete Provision
Verdict in Sidibe v. Sutter Health Overturned by 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor June 5, 2024
On Tuesday, June 4, 2024, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned Sutter Health’s win in a $411 million antitrust suit, saying that the jury that found in favor of Sutter in 2022 was given improper jury instructions, and that the plaintiffs were improperly prevented from presenting relevant evidence. In September 2012, a class of individuals and employers who purchased fully insured plans from the five largest commercial health insurance companies in California filed this lawsuit alleging that Sutter Health restricted competition in the healthcare market using anticompetitive tactics. A similar lawsuit, …
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FTC’s Non-Compete Ban Hit with Multiple Legal Challenges
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor May 15, 2024
On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule banning many noncompete clauses in employee contracts and several parties quickly filed lawsuits challenging those rules. Only one day after the FTC issued the rule, on April 24, 2024, the Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America, the Business Roundtable, the Texas Association of Business, and the Longview Chamber of Commerce filed suit against the FTC in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. On April 23, Ryan, a tax services …
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Recent lawsuits focus on key competition issues
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor April 16, 2024
This spring, court cases are dealing with a variety of issues relevant to healthcare marketplace competition issues. These include a Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) action to block a sale of hospitals in North Carolina, examining the fiduciary duties employer-sponsored health plans have in selecting drug plans, and looking at the acceptability of non-compete clauses in physician contracts. FTC Files suit in North Carolina In February, the FTC authorization of a suit to block Novant Health’s proposed acquisition of two hospitals owned by Community Health Systems (CHS) in North Carolina. On …
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Class Action Antitrust Suit Claims University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Used Monopsony Market Power to Suppress Healthcare Workforce Conditions
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor February 15, 2024
On January 18, 2024, Victoria Ross, a former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) nurse, filed an antitrust class action suit in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against UPMC. The suit claims UPMC used its “monopsony power to prevent workers from exiting or improving their working conditions, to suppress workers’ wages and benefits, and to drastically increase their workloads, through a draconian system of mobility restrictions and widespread labor law violations that lock employees into sub-competitive pay and working conditions.” Parties to the Suit According …
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Recapping the 2023 California Legislative Session (Part 1): Regulating Market Competition and Health System Reforms
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow November 13, 2023
On September 14, the California Legislature concluded the 2023 legislative session when it adjourned for an interim recess. The session marked the end of the first year of the two-year 2023-2024 term. In total, the Legislature introduced over 3,000 bills this session – more bills than it has introduced in more than a decade; of which, 700 bills remain active. Like past sessions, the California Legislative Beat recaps the noteworthy bills from this session that impact California’s health care market in a two-part series. In this Part 1 of our …
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2023 California Healthcare Bills Part 1: Healthcare Consolidation and Competition
Rachel Ng, Student Fellow May 11, 2023
In the 2023-2024 legislative term, the California legislature has introduced a multitude of legislation targeting consolidation and competition in health care, system reform and price and quality transparency. In a two-part series, we highlight some of the noteworthy legislation proposed this session. Part 1 focuses specifically on the State’s efforts to promote a more competitive healthcare market by targeting restraints of trade and consolidation. In Part 2, the focus will shift to proposed bills targeting system reform, price and quality transparency, and prescription drug prices. Health Care Consolidation California …
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Q2 2022: Antitrust Enforcement Actions Flourish Against Healthcare Consolidation and Anticompetitive Contracting
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 14, 2022
It’s been a busy month in healthcare antitrust land, both for federal regulators and private plaintiffs, as we saw an explosion of enforcement actions challenging both proposed mergers and anticompetitive conduct that stemmed from previous mergers. From New Jersey to Utah, large health systems such as HCA are being increasingly scrutinized and coming under fire for garnering and using their market power in anticompetitive ways. Merger Challenges Fresh from its appeals court win in the Hackensack Meridian and Englewood merger challenge, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is continuing its …
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Private Enforcement Cases Highlight Consolidation and Anticompetitive Practices in Healthcare Industry
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 14, 2022
As federal and state agencies ramp up enforcement in healthcare antitrust following the Biden executive order calling for revamped competition in the industry, private entities are also increasingly joining in the action. In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we take a look at a pair of recent private antitrust cases that allege anticompetitive conduct of large hospital systems. Saint Francis Hospital v. Hartford HealthCare (Connecticut) Last month, Hartford HealthCare in Connecticut was hit with an antitrust lawsuit filed in federal court by competitor Saint Francis Hospital, alleging that …
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Biden Executive Order Seeks to Tackle Healthcare Consolidation and Boost Competition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 12, 2021
In an encouraging boost to efforts to promote healthcare competition and price transparency, President Biden signed a sweeping executive order that targets consolidation and lack of competition in the healthcare industry, among others. As part of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy released on July 9th, the President targeted specific market players in the healthcare sector, including hospitals, health insurers, and prescription drug manufacturers. The Executive Order affirms the policy of the Biden Administration “to enforce the antitrust laws to combat the excessive concentration of industry, …
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The Source Roundup: June 2020 Edition
Kendall Kohlmeyer, Student Fellow June 1, 2020
The Source continues to extend wishes of safety and good health to you and your loved ones during this uniquely challenging time. Despite the reality that much of the healthcare industry suffers financial catastrophe due to the pandemic, experts note improvements in some areas. Authors this month expect some advancements to last and suggest how the U.S. should use them to diminish costs. Changes in Telehealth Will Likely Outlast the Pandemic In JAMA’s Implications for Telehealth in a Postpandemic Future, Carmel Shachar and co-authors affirm positive outcomes that the …
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