Government
Texas physician group loses appeal of antitrust complaint
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 13, 2004
An administrative law judge in November upheld a Federal Trade Commission administrative complaint issued last year against a group of almost 600 physicians in Texas.
North Texas Specialty Physicians challenged allegations that the doctors were involved in price-fixing while negotiating health plan contracts. But Administrative Law Judge D. Michael Chappell said the government proved its case and that the physician group must stop the way it had been negotiating contracts.
The FTC alleges that North Texas Specialty Physicians negotiated agreements among its participating physicians on price and other terms, refused to deal with payers except on collectively agreed-upon terms, and refused to submit payer offers to participating physicians unless the terms met the group's minimum-fee standards. The decision is not final. The FTC still needs to review it, and the physician group could still challenge the judge's decision.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/12/13/gvbf1213.htm.
