On November 15, 2018, the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it had settled its suit against Atrium Health over the imposition of “anti-steering” and “anti-transparency” restrictions in...more
Last month the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced a proposed settlement in its anti-steering case against Atrium Health (formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare System) (“Atrium”). US v. The...more
The Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (the “DOJ”) announced a proposed settlement in its anti-steering case against Atrium Health (formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare System) (“Atrium”). US v. The...more
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Attorney General of North Carolina announced a settlement last week in their civil antitrust case against Atrium Health, the largest hospital system in the state of North Carolina....more
The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced on November 15 that it was settling its antitrust lawsuit against Atrium Health (formerly known as Carolinas Health System)....more
On June 25, 2018, the Supreme Court held that American Express Co.’s “non-discrimination” rules that prevented merchants from steering customers to other credit card brands do not violate the federal antitrust laws....more
On March 29, 2018, the Attorney General of California filed an antitrust action against Sutter Health and its affiliates (“Sutter”) alleging Sutter engaged in various anticompetitive conduct in violation of California’s...more
OIG Advisory Opinions - Manufacturer's Free Replacement of Spoiled Pharmaceutical Products Authorized - On Aug. 25, 2017, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG)...more
Read the latest news on antitrust, competition and economic regulation (ACER) in this summer's edition of our quarterly ACER newsletter. ...more
CMS Issues Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol for Stark Law Violations - On March 28, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new voluntary self-referral disclosure protocol (SRDP) for disclosing...more
The Department of Justice's (DOJ) case against Carolinas Healthcare System's (CHS) anti-steering contract clauses has survived initial attempts by CHS to dismiss the case. Despite the reversal of the DOJ's win in the American...more
Despite a recent decision by the Second Circuit suggesting that anti-steering contractual provisions in other industries may not be anticompetitive, DOJ’s lawsuit (United States v. Carolinas HealthCare System) against...more
On March 30, 2017, in a closely watched case, a federal district court denied the Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings filed by Carolinas Healthcare against the DOJ Antitrust Division and State of North Carolina’s Complaint...more
Overtime Rules Enjoined Nationwide - In State of Nev. v. U.S. Dep't of Labor Case No. 4:16-cv-00731-ALM, 2016 WL 6879615 (E.D. Tex. Nov. 22, 2016), a Texas district court enjoined nationwide the Department of Labor's...more
The U.S. Department of Justice's loss to American Express sends a message to health care providers: Steering, tiering, exclusive dealing and other contractual arrangements that appear to suppress competition in one part of...more
On Oct. 3, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court denied petitions for a writ of certiorari from both sides of the O’Bannon v. NCAA student-athlete pay case. As we previously reported, in August 2014 the U.S. District Court for...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, a highly influential appellate court sitting in New York, on September 26 issued a unanimous ruling with major implications for antitrust and unfair competition laws,...more
The Vulnerability of Healthcare Information - According to a report the Brookings Institute issued in May 2016, 23% of all data breaches occur in the healthcare industry. Nearly 90% of healthcare organizations had some...more
The Department of Justice’s antitrust division (the “DOJ”)and the State of North Carolina (“NC”) jointly sued, on June 9, 2016, Carolinas HealthCare System (“CHS”), the largest healthcare system in North Carolina, over...more
On June 9, 2016, the Antitrust Division of the United States Department of Justice (“DoJ”) filed a complaint against the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Hospital Authority, d/b/a Carolinas Health Care System (“CHS”) in the United...more
A popular weapon used to contain health care expenditures is the creation by payors and employers of tiered provider networks, which by differentiated co-pays attempt to steer insureds to less expensive choices. In...more
A federal appeals court has revived a lawsuit accusing MasterCard, Visa and three major banks of illegally fixing ATM prices to the detriment of consumers. A federal district judge had thrown out the lawsuit in 2013 after...more
On July 29, the following four CFPB-related bills were passed by the House Financial Services Committee: H.R. 3192, the “Homebuyers Assistance Act”: The bill would provide a hold harmless period for the TILA/RESPA Integrated...more
Wednesday, the following four CFPB-related bills were passed by the House Financial Services Committee: H.R. 3192, the “Homebuyers Assistance Act”: The bill would provide a hold harmless period for the TILA/RESPA Integrated...more
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected American Express Co.’s request to stay an injunction ordered by a judge in the Eastern District of New York which prevented Amex from imposing certain...more