For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Contact: Nazneen Ahmed
919-716-0060
(RALEIGH) Attorney General Josh Stein today urged the United States District Court for the Western District of North Carolina to allow a case filed by western North Carolina municipalities to go forward. Specifically, the cities of Asheville and Brevard and counties of Buncombe and Madison have filed an antitrust lawsuit that alleges that Mission Health is engaging in anticompetitive conduct, including using all-or-nothing contracts, anti-steering provisions, and price confidentiality provisions to prevent insurers from directing patients to lower cost, higher quality services.
Attorney General Stein’s amicus brief can be found here.
Attorney General Stein released the following statement:
“Patients are best served when they have choices. Unfortunately, hospital consolidation has decreased choice in western North Carolina, and patients are paying the price. While consolidation isn’t necessarily illegal – and is an unfortunate consequence of the North Carolina General Assembly’s failure to expand Medicaid – the plaintiffs in this case allege that Mission Health is illegally using its size and strength to further decrease choice in the region.
“North Carolinians know that the price of everything is going up right now, including health care. We cannot allow hospitals to break the law to break North Carolinians’ bank accounts. The allegations laid out in this case are serious, and the municipalities deserve to have their day in court.”
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