Advocate Aurora Health has been hit with a class-action antitrust lawsuit alleging the system has used its market strength in eastern Wisconsin to suppress competition and drive “unreasonably high prices,” Fierce Healthcare reports.
Filed Tuesday, the case was brought by Uriel Pharmacy, based in Wisconsin, and its self-funded health plan.
“Our complaint alleges that Advocate Aurora’s anticompetitive conduct has unlawfully taken huge sums of money from the pockets of Wisconsin employers to fund the hospital system’s never-ending expansion across the country,” Jamie Crooks, managing partner of Fairmark Partners, LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement. “Advocate Aurora’s actions in recent years look more like that of a ruthless Wall Street institution that happens to own Wisconsin hospitals instead of a non-profit charity focused on the delivery of healthcare.”
Plaintiffs asked the court to recognize Advocate Aurora’s monopolization of certain healthcare markets and the damages and injuries it caused. They also sought an injunction preventing further anticompetitive behavior and restitution.
Formed from the 2018 merger of Advocate Health Care and Aurora Health Care, Advocate Aurora operates more than 500 ambulatory locations and 27 hospitals in Illinois and Wisconsin. Read more.
