West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. v. UPMC: Third Circuit Finds Conspiracy and Attempt to Monopolize Claims Meet the Test

Allegations of depressed reimbursement rates paid by Highmark, the dominant insurer in the Pittsburgh area, to West Penn Allegheny Health System, Inc. allegedly pursuant to a conspiracy with the area’s dominant hospital system were sufficient to state an antitrust claim, according to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in the West Penn Allegheny Health System decision filed November 29, 2010.  The Court also held that West Penn Allegheny sufficiently alleged anticompetitive conduct for purposes of an attempted monopoly case by describing a variety of acts by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (“UPMC”) “taken as a whole.”

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