OhioHealth has 17 hospitals in the state, including 16 in central Ohio.
COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. Department of Justice and Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed an antitrust lawsuit against OhioHealth, alleging that the company limits competition and drives up health care costs for patients and employers.
The federal complaint was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on Friday.
According to Yost, OhioHealth uses its market strength to force insurers to include the health organization in all their commercial insurance networks, which prevents insurers from offering lower-priced health plan options in central Ohio.
“When competition is blocked, consumers end up being the biggest losers,” Yost said. “My office stands with the Justice Department in our determination to eliminate these types of unfair practices and protect Ohioan’s wallets.”
OhioHealth released a brief statement saying it has not been served with the complaint and it would not be appropriate to comment on pending litigation.
The complaint alleges that since at least 2003, OhioHealth’s contractual restrictions have prevented commercial health insurance companies from offering lower-cost plans to patients.
“These restrictions deprive patients of a choice among a full spectrum of competitive health insurance plans, where patients could decide for themselves whether going to OhioHealth for care is worth the high prices it charges. If such plans were available, the employers and patients who choose them would benefit immediately from lower premiums and out-of-pocket costs,” the complaint alleges.
Justice Department officials told CBS News that OhioHealth has about a 40% market share, and it has negotiated prices with insurance companies that are about 50% higher than competitors.
They added that the investigation into OhioHealth has been underway for several years and is one of several ongoing probes into dominant health care systems across the U.S.
OhioHealth has 17 hospitals in the state, including 16 in central Ohio. It competes with Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and with the Mount Carmel Health System, which is owned by Trinity Health.
The lawsuit can be read here.