The Justice Department on Friday accused one of Ohio's largest healthcare systems of engaging in anticompetitive behavior that forces patients to pay high prices for their healthcare.

The complaint, brought jointly by the Justice Department and Ohio Attorney General against OhioHealth Corporation in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio, is the first civil antitrust enforcement action by the department's Antitrust Division in about a year, officials said.

It comes a week after Gail Slater, the division's Trump-appointed assistant attorney general, was fired from her post amid rising tensions with Attorney General Pam Bondi's office and replaced by Omeed Assefi, who is serving in an acting capacity.

"The mission of the department under the leadership of Attorney General Bondi and of this administration is to be laser-focused on affordability," Assefi said in an interview Friday.

"What we want to do here is be as aggressive in enforcement as possible because of the returns that come to everyday people."

"We have not yet been served with the complaint and it would be inappropriate for us to comment on pending litigation," a spokesperson for OhioHealth told CBS News.

OhioHealth owns or manages 16 hospitals and outpatient facilities and is the dominant hospital system in the Columbus area. It competes with Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, and with the Mount Carmel Health System, which is owned by Trinity Health.

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 healthcare systems across the U.S.

The most recent similar case was settled in 2018 with Charlotte, North Carolina-based Atrium Health, formerly known as Carolinas HealthCare System. It involved similar claims of anticompetitive steering restrictions in contracts between commercial health insurers and Carolinas HealthCare System providers.

"The enforcement agenda is very much alive and thriving," Assefi told CBS.

Source