US: State files antitrust suit against Sutter Health

California’s Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed a lawsuit against Sutter Health, accusing Northern California’s largest health system of abusing its dominance in the market to unlawfully raise prices.

The state alleges that Sutter violated California antitrust laws by forcing health insurers to enter into agreements that gave Sutter the power to raise prices for hospital and health care services “that far exceed the prices it would have been able to charge in an unconstrained, competitive market.”

“It’s time to hold health care corporations accountable and bring down illegally inflated health care costs imposed on California families,” said Becerra, who announced Friday, March 30, that he filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court.

Sutter, which operates 24 hospitals and 35 outpatient centers in Northern California, is aware of the lawsuit but has not yet reviewed it and cannot comment on the specifics, said Sutter spokeswoman Karen Garner.

Full Content: USA Today

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