Lawsuit calls out New York-Presbyterian for denying access to affordable healthcare options
In case you missed it – last week, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital for anticompetitive contracts that drive up healthcare costs for New Yorkers.
The complaint asserts the city’s largest hospital system violates antitrust law by leveraging contracts that block insurers and employers from offering lower-cost health plans.
“This isn’t about doctors or nurses caring for patients — it’s about greedy hospital owners and executives. Patients deserve to know what they’re paying for and why,” said Adam L. Buckalew, a senior advisor for Hospital Watch. “For too long, hospitals have operated behind a veil of secrecy when it comes to pricing. Hospitals should make it easier to receive care instead of crowding out the market with anticompetitive tactics just to raise their profit margins.”
New York-Presbyterian owns and operates eight hospitals and multiple outpatient facilities in the New York City area, controlling more than one-third of inpatient discharges in Manhattan and a quarter of inpatient discharges in the outer boroughs.
The system has also faced serious criticism over health and safety concerns, including overcrowding and unclean facilities, while at the same time raising eyebrows for presenting luxury Chanel gift bags to mothers who give birth in their Upper East Side hospital.
This is the second antitrust case the DOJ has brought this year against a hospital system, following its lawsuit against OhioHealth for similar anticompetitive practices – signaling increased scrutiny of corporate hospital system practices that put profits over patients.
Hospital Watch is dedicated to holding these hospital systems accountable for monopolistic practices that undermine free market standards in the United States. Lawsuits like these are an important first step in enforcing key rules that keep the healthcare market affordable.
Read more on the filing here.
Hospital Watch is a watchdog group dedicated to shining a light on corporate hospitals as the top culprit in driving up U.S. healthcare costs – exposing corporate hospitals’ monopolistic practices in price gouging patients with excessive markups and hidden fees with no transparency while forcing patients and employers to pay more for their care. Hospital Watch is a project of Better Solutions for Healthcare.