EP513: Revisiting Cunning Anticompetitive Hospital Contracts, With Brennan Bilberry

Stacey Richter introduces Episode 513 of Relentless Health Value as a primer on anti-competitive hospital contracting with Brennan Bilberry of Fairmark Partners, setting up next week's interview with Matt Cantor, lead litigator in the Sutter Health antitrust class action that led to a $575 million settlement over alleged price inflation using market power.

Bilberry explains how hospital consolidation enables higher commercial rates and outlines a four-part contracting playbook: all-or-nothing contracting requiring inclusion of all system facilities at high prices; anti-steering and anti-tiering clauses blocking lower-cost benefit designs; price gag clauses limiting disclosure of negotiated rates despite transparency rules; and pressure on ostensibly independent providers to sell or align pricing with the dominant system.

The episode links these patterns to DOJ actions against OhioHealth and New York Presbyterian and emphasizes collective action, regulation, and litigation to address them.

=== LINKS ===

🔗 Show Notes with all mentioned links: https://cc-lnk.com/EP513

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00:00 Episode Setup

00:38 Why This Matters

04:41 Hospital Playbook

06:59 Consolidation Effects

11:41 All Or Nothing

15:24 Anti Steering Tiers

22:12 Price Gag Clauses

26:22 Squeezing Independents

31:15 Fixing The System

35:15 Wrap Up Sponsors