Despite a recent decision by the Second Circuit suggesting that anti-steering contractual provisions in other industries may not be anticompetitive, DOJ’s lawsuit (United States v. Carolinas HealthCare System) against Carolinas HealthCare System’s (CHS’s) contracting practices continues forward after surviving a motion for judgment on the pleadings. On March 30, a North Carolina federal judge found that DOJ’s lawsuit targeting CHS’s direct and indirect anti-steering provisions preventing insurers from steering patients to lower-cost providers alleged plausible antitrust violations and should continue to discovery.
