In William Beaumont Hospital v. Federal Insurance Co., Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Federal Insurance Co. to reimburse WilliamBeaumontHospital 80 percent of an $11.3 million settlement with nurses who alleged wage suppression in an antitrust class action. The court found that failing to hand over wages is different from illicitly acquiring wages. As a […]
Category Archives: Insurance Issues
Court Orders Insurer to Reimburse Hospital for Antitrust Case Settlement
January 27, 2014 – 10:26 pm
Court Dismisses Medical Testing Labs’ Monopoly Suit Against Health Insurers
June 27, 2013 – 5:36 pm
In Rheumatology Diagnostics Laboratory Inc. et al. v. Aetna Inc., et al, Northern District of California Judge Jon Tigar dismissed medical testing labs’ antitrust suit alleging that Quest Diagnostics improperly offered insurers incentives so that they would refuse to deal with its competitors. The suit accused Quest of offering predatory discounts to health insurance companies […]
Chiropractic Organization May Not Negotiate Prices for Its Members
February 20, 2013 – 8:28 am
In U.S. v. Oklahoma State Chiropractic Independent Physicians Association, filed in the Northern District of Oklahoma, the Antitrust Division and the defendant association have entered a consent decree preventing an Oklahoma chiropractic association from negotiating joint contracts with insurers that the DOJ believes thwarted competition and drove up prices for consumers. The decree, which must […]
Follow-on Class Action Against Michigan Blue Cross/Shield to Move Forward
January 23, 2013 – 9:00 am
In The Shane Group Inc. et al. v. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, Eastern District of Michigan Judge Denise Page Hood has ruled that a proposed class action may move forward. The putative class claims the health insurance company included anticompetitive most-favored-nation (MFN) provisions in its hospital contracts that required the hospitals to charge […]
Antitrust Claims Dismissed in Medical Billing Price-Fixing Suit
September 20, 2012 – 3:15 pm
In In re: WellPoint Inc. Out-of-Network “UCR” Rates Litigation, Central District of California Judge Philip S. Gutierrez dismissed Sherman Act claims in a long-running multidistrict litigation for lack of standing. In their suit, plaintiffs accuse WellPoint and other insurers of conspiring to underpay health care providers by knowingly creating and using flawed data – contained […]
Pharmacy Cooperative Agrees to a 20-Year Ban on Price Negotiations
August 31, 2012 – 11:25 am
In In the Matter of Cooperativa de Farmacias Puertorriquenas, the Cooperativa de Farmacias Puertorriquenas (Coopharma), a Puerto Rican pharmacy cooperative, agreed to stop negotiating prices on behalf of its more than 300 members for 10 years, as part of an antitrust settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. According to the FTC’s complaint, Coopharma, which consists […]
Insurer Trademark Suit Not Sham Litigation
August 17, 2012 – 9:51 am
In Darba Enterprises Inc. v. Amica Mutual Insurance Co. et al., District of Nevada Judge Hicks dismissed the plaintiffs’ antitrust claim arguing that the defendant’s trademark enforcement suit against the plaintiff constituted anticompetitive activity. Amica had sued alleging that Darba violated its trademark by using it in websites that inaccurately suggested that Darba could provide […]
Court Denies Class Certification in Car Parts Antitrust Suit
August 6, 2012 – 9:09 pm
In Perez et al. v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company et al., Northern District of California Judge James Ware dismissed a putative class action against State Farm Mutual Insurance Company and four other insurers. In their suit, plaintiffs alleged that the insurers colluded to exclusively offer “junk” policies that shut competitors out of the […]
Sixth Circuit Affirms Dismissal of Title Insurance Price Fixing Suit
August 6, 2012 – 7:40 pm
In Jordan Katz et al. v. Fidelity National Title Insurance et al., the Sixth Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a consolidated class action accusing 22 title insurers of conspiring with an Ohio rating bureau to fix prices. In their suit, plaintiffs claimed that the title insurers violated the Sherman Act and Ohio’s Valentine Act when […]
DOJ and Texas Hospital Propose Antitrust Settlement
May 9, 2011 – 4:00 pm
A Northern District of Texas court received a proposed settlement between the Department of Justice and a Texas hospital that was accused of monopolizing the hospital services market by preventing insurers from working with competitors. United Regional Health Care System of Wichita Falls, Texas, controlled hospital services in the area and was allegedly able to charge […]