Cascade Health Solutions v. PeaceHealth
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
515 F.3d 883 (2008)
PeaceHealth (defendant), one of only two hospital providers in its county, offered insurers a significantly higher reimbursement rate if PeaceHealth remained their exclusive preferred provider than if the insurer also included competing hospital McKenzie (plaintiff); McKenzie sued for monopolization, and the jury, instructed under a standard that didn't consider PeaceHealth's relative efficiency, found for McKenzie and awarded damages. PeaceHealth appealed, arguing its bundled pricing was lawful competition.
Whether a defendant's bundled discount constitutes an antitrust violation, and what standard determines whether such a discount is unlawfully exclusionary rather than legitimate price competition.