Carolinas HealthCare System has lost a bid to dismiss a US Justice Department lawsuit accusing the largest hospital network in North Carolina of imposing restrictions that barred insurers from steering patients to lower-cost medical providers.
US District Judge Robert Conrad in Charlotte on Thursday ruled that the lawsuit by the Justice Department and the North Carolina attorney general’s office sufficiently alleged Carolinas HealthCare violated federal antitrust laws.
Carolinas controls 50% of the healthcare market in the Charlotte area. The DOJ claims that insurers agree to contracts with Carolinas that prevent them from steering patients to less costly providers because of this market power.
Full Content: Reuters
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