Sacramento, Calif.-based Sutter Health is defending itself in court Feb. 9 over a class-action lawsuit accusing the provider of violating antitrust laws.
Five things to know:
1. The lawsuit alleges that through policies and contracts, Sutter Health systematically overcharged health plans, resulting in higher premiums for members.
2. The lawsuit says that regardless of whether they received care at a Sutter Health facility, members suffered from increased premiums due to higher costs to insurers.
3. The lawsuit's class includes any fully-insured patient across 38 California counties who paid premiums to one of five payers — Blue Shield of California, Anthem Blue Cross, Aetna, Health Net or UnitedHealthcare — since 2011.
4. Sutter Health settled another antitrust lawsuit in August 2021 for $575 million. Similarly, the lawsuit alleged the provider used its Northern California market dominance to overcharge patients and payers.
5. HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra — who while serving as California's attorney general initially took Sutter Health to court over the matter in 2018 — in December 2020 described the provider as "the bully on the block," using its Northern California influence to negotiate unfair rates with payers, according to CBS News.