Federal Trade Commission and State of Tennessee v. Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare and Tenet Healthcare
Date Filed: November 16, 2020Status: Decided
District Court: Western District of Tennessee, Western Division – Case No. 2:20-CV-02835-SHL-tmp
Nature of Suit: Antitrust
Defendant Type: Provider
Plaintiff Type: Federal, State
Case Info: https://www.ftc.gov/enforcement/cases-proceedings/191-0189/methodist-le-bonheur-healthcare-matter, https://sourceonhealthcare.org/healthcare-merger-challenges-q1-2021-update/
Court Document: https://www.bloomberglaw.com/product/blaw/document/X4H21MNO096895PR0LHHQF5V6TF/download?fmt=pdf&search32=m_eQVZlRdyTPPa3V2ps2hw%3D%3Dcke7dCwgrhRCI34J1dOb6N_3W0zAbvjYaGsoNfppqY2ThqSJpLvXmoHcf2SBzK_M0GwJC4_hngeV3m6NKg9V9vh9lFkSLC6JQPXxwTmLnIu-TUwZjfEWfauQVQJxlqhGnZWHEwz6j_cL8oWmXWx0G-BwlC7hie0Ubey7VqUivSzW64OsWgymt5Hp75tptcNVVl8zcS6wtB2XEdLLLngr3NbCiALnI8gSZGsh-EOo9K0YB8Bmqz5xhb5AGE7kEICo-R4MuR0xkov0iVSl_HRPHg%3D%3D
Joined by the Tennessee attorney general, the FTC filed in federal court for a preliminary injunction to block Methodist Le Bonheur’s proposed $350 million acquisition of two hospitals known as Saint Francis, located in Memphis and owned by Tenet Healthcare Corporation. The complaint alleges that Methodist and Saint Francis are direct competitors, and the proposed acquisition would substantially lessen competition for inpatient general acute care services in the Memphis area, giving Methodist control of nearly 60% of the acute-care market. It would also reduce the number of health systems in the region from four to three and allow Methodist to demand higher rates from insurers, which would be passed on to patients as higher premiums and out-of-pocket costs. The parties decided to abandon the merger a month after the lawsuit was filed.