US: Vail Health accused of physical therapist monopoly

On Wednesday, July 17, Lindsay Winninger, the former head physical therapist for the US Ski Team on the women’s World Cup circuit and Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn’s private physical therapist, filed a federal antitrust lawsuit claiming Vail Health holds a monopoly in the regional physical therapy industry, reported the Aspen Times.

The lawsuit alleges that Vail Health controls 70% of the regional physical therapy market and that this gives the hospital “monopoly power to raise prices and exclude competition.”

The lawsuit further alleges that Vail Health collects “supra-competitive profits,” from its physical therapy business—20% to 40% above competitive market prices. That’s approximately US$140 per session for self-pay and more than US$300 per session under an insurance contract, as opposed to the more normal rate of US$65 to US$120 per session, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit claims that the Vail Health’s “exclusionary conduct” has forced 3 physical therapy providers to close their local offices in the last 2 years