Sutter Health, a large nonprofit health care system with 24 hospitals, 34 surgery centers and 5,500 physicians across Northern California, has reached a preliminary settlement agreement in a closely watched antitrust case brought by self-funded employers and later joined by California’s Office of the Attorney General.
The agreement was announced in San Francisco Superior Court on Wednesday, just before opening arguments were expected to begin.
Details have not been made public, and the parties declined to talk to reporters. Superior Court Judge Anne-Christine Massullo told the jury that details likely will be made public during approval hearings in February or March.
Sutter, which is based in Sacramento, Calif., stood accused of violating California’s antitrust laws by using its market power to illegally drive up prices.
The case was a massive undertaking, representing years of work and millions of pages of documents, California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said before the trial. Sutter was expected to face damages of up to $2.7 billion.
