Ninth Circuit reverses jury verdict in hospital antitrust case

The Ninth Circuit yesterday reversed a $16.2 million jury award in an antitrust dispute between two Eugene hospitals.  One of the key issues in Cascade Health Solutions v. PeaceHealth was whether PeaceHealth, the largest provider of hospital services in the market, engaged in illegal attempted monopolization when it offered bundled discounts to insurers -- meaning that it offered a bundle of services for a lower price than it charged for the services individually. 

Companies from across the country weighed in as amicus curiae, and the Ninth Circuit held that the district court's jury instructions on the bundled discount issue were erroneous.  According to the court,  offering a bundled discount that a competitor cannot match is not by itself an antitrust violation.  The Ninth Circuit adopted the test for illegal bundled discounts recommended earlier this year by the Antitrust Modernization Commission.  See further discussion of the case here and here.