In its ongoing battle [1] with hospital chain HCA, UnitedHealthcare filed a federal lawsuit against HCA subsidiary HealthOne, alleging antitrust violations, attempted monopolization and interference with contracts. But HealthOne is standing up to UnitedHealthcare, claiming that it has done nothing wrong and that the the insurer is simply using the lawsuit as a tactic in the ongoing UnitedHealthcare/HCA contract dispute. According to the Denver Business Journal, a HealthOne filing stated that UnitedHealthcare's complaints are "about the effect that an inability to negotiate favorable contract terms in renewed agreements might have on United's business…Nothing in the federal antitrust laws or Colorado's tort law, however, requires HealthOne to afford United these contract terms." A massive contract dispute between the two healthcare giants has left thousands of patients in Colorado and Florida in limbo as the two sides try to renegotiate a contract that expired on August 31.
For more background on the dispute:
- read this Denver Business Journal report [2]
Related Article
What's behind the sudden increase in contract disputes? Report [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hca-unitedhealthcare-wrangle-over-fees/2006-09-01
[2] http://denver.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2006/09/18/daily30.html?jst=b_ln_hl
[3] http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/story/hospital-insurer-relationships-fraying/2006-09-19