Independent TX practices engaged in price fixing

In backing a 2005 Federal Trade Commission decision against North Texas Specialty Physicians, the fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed that the association of independent practices in Forth Worth took part in illegal price fixing, according to Modern Healthcare. North Texas Specialty Physicians tried to set up a system "in which members were polled as to the minimum rates they'd accept, and the association would circulate contract offers from payers only if they exceeded an acceptable fee calculated from the poll results." The appeals court favored the original finding by the FTC; neither organization believed that North Texas provided a valid explanation of how patients benefited from the system.

For more:
- read the Modern Healthcare article