In big win for plaintiffs, NC Business Court judge won't fully dismiss antitrust lawsuit

Andrew Jones, Asheville Citizen Times
·4 min read
Mission Hospital, at 509 Biltmore Avenue.
Mission Hospital, at 509 Biltmore Avenue.

A North Carolina Business Court judge has partially denied HCA Healthcare and Mission Health's motion to dismiss an antitrust lawsuit brought against them just more than a year ago.

Special Superior Court Judge for Complex Business Case Mark Davis is presiding over the case in which six Asheville-area plaintiffs are suing HCA, Mission and several associated entities, alleging monopoly practice that’s raising prices and lowering the quality of WNC health care.

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The 43-page ruling agrees that the lawsuit's original complaint found grounds that HCA has behaved in an anti-competitive manner, specifically regarding restraint of trade, "activity that tends to limit a party's ability to enter into transactions," according to a Cornell Law School definition.

In other words, restraining trade inhibits free-market competition.

In an opinion released Sept. 19, Davis partially denied HCA and Mission's motion to dismiss, meaning the case can continue in Buncombe County Superior Court. Attorneys for the plaintiffs described Davis' decision as affirming "plaintiffs have plausibly alleged that HCA has engaged in an illegal restraint of trade that has led to consumers paying more for health care in HCA's service area."

The history of WNC's antitrust action against HCA Healthcare:

HCA has seven main facilities in Western North Carolina.

"(T)he Complaint’s allegations in the present case, as discussed extensively above, sufficiently identify anticompetitive practices in which Defendants have engaged during their negotiations with commercial insurers leading, among other things, to higher insurance premiums for consumers along with denial of access to information regarding price and quality as to Defendants’ facilities so as to establish their standing to advance their antitrust claims in this action," Davis ruling stated.

This lawsuit was originally filed August 2021 and became the first of three antitrust lawsuits brought against Mission in less than a year.

Two others were brought by the city of Brevard and later Buncombe County and the city of Asheville.

Those two cases were consolidated and Madison County is a plaintiff in that lawsuit as well, one whose language is similar to that of the Business Court case.

N.C. Attorney General, who filed an amicus brief in the case supporting the plaintiffs, said he was pleased with the judge's decision.

"Our office is pleased that the Court agreed with our position in the HCA case," Stein's office said in an email. "Attorney General Stein is closely reviewing the decision to determine next steps and continues to be focused on his work to ensure that North Carolinians have access to affordable, high-quality health care."

'I believe we will prevail'

“We’re grateful that the people of Western North Carolina are one step closer to some relief from rising health care costs,” Jamie Crooks of Fairmark Partners said in a statement. “We still likely have a long road ahead but we’re committed to pursuing an outcome that holds HCA accountable for its conduct, reduces the rate of price increases, and restores competition to the hospital industry in Western North Carolina.”

Fairmark and Salisbury-based Wallace and Graham represent the plaintiffs in the antitrust lawsuit.

“We are delighted that the Court has allowed the restraint of trade claim to proceed, and we look forward to continuing to seek justice for the citizens of Western North Carolina,” Mona Lisa Wallace of Wallace and Graham said in the statement.

Mission Health and HCA spokesperson Nancy Lindell said the organizations also were pleased with the decision, especially since the judge decided to approve dismissal of several claims made in the complaint.

"We appreciate the court’s thoughtful consideration of the issues raised in our filing, and we are pleased with the court’s decision to dismiss a substantial portion of the claims," Lindell said. "We continue to believe the allegations are wholly without merit, and we will vigorously defend ourselves through the legal process."

Will Overfelt is one of the plaintiffs in the case and founder of the growing 13,400-member Mountain Maladies Facebook group − a hub for patient advocacy and discussion.

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"It’s been a very good day," Overfelt said in a Mountain Maladies post he gave the Citizen Times permission to use. "Today we prevailed in HCA’s motion to dismiss and this lawsuit will indeed go forward. This lawsuit is a marathon and not a sprint. The hard work of discovery has yet to begin but this is a major hurdle. When this marathon of a lawsuit comes to close in coming years I believe we will prevail. But even if we don’t, reading these words from the judge meant a lot to me."

Overfelt quoted the seminal portion of the opinion in which Davis agreed HCA and Mission were involved in anti-competitive practices.

"It means a lot to me that a judge spent a year pouring over this lawsuit and came to the conclusion that we have merit. He concludes that this isn’t frivolous," he concluded. "It isn’t sour grapes. There is substance and there is merit in our work."

Andrew Jones is an investigative reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: NC Judge: Antitrust lawsuit against Mission, HCA can move forward