Business
UnitedHealth takes HCA to court
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Oct. 9, 2006
UnitedHealthcare has sued HCA in Colorado alleging that the for-profit hospital chain engaged in anticompetitive behavior.
Tensions between the insurance giant, a division of Minnetonka, Minn.-based UnitedHealth Group, and the Nashville-based hospital operator heated up after they failed to reach a new contract before their former agreement expired in August. United says it has 850,000 members in Colorado, where HCA operates as HealthOne in the Denver area.
In a lawsuit filed Sept. 18 in federal court in Denver, United said HCA had used its market dominance to attempt to extort anticompetitive rates from the insurer. The lawsuit also said that HCA tied its contracts with its imaging centers to the hospital service contracts in an effort to get more money.
United also sought a temporary restraining order to stop its contract for imaging and mammography services with HCA from expiring in November. U.S. District Judge Robert Blackburn denied the request.
In court filings, HCA said that United was using the courts to "wage a pitched public relations battle in order to attempt to regain an upper hand in ongoing negotiations." The hospital chain also said that United couldn't prove its claims about anticompetitive behavior.
The two companies have also been at odds over contract negotiations in parts of Florida.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/10/09/bibf1009.htm.
