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Colegio de Optometras, Edgar Davila Garcia, O.D., and Carlos Rivera Alonso, O.D., In the Matter of

The Commission charged a group of optometrists in Puerto Rico with violating the FTC Act by orchestrating agreements among members of the Colegio de Optometras to refuse, or threaten to refuse, to accept vision and health care contracts except on collectively agreed-upon terms. Two leaders of the group were also charged with facilitating the agreement by urging members not to participate in the vision network. The Commission’s consent order settling these charges bars the group and the two leaders from engaging in such conduct, while allowing them to undertake certain kinds of joint contracting arrangements by which physician participants control costs and improve quality by managing the provision of services. FTC staff worked with the Office of Monopolistic Affairs of Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice on this case.

Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
051 0044

South Carolina State Board of Dentistry, In the Matter of

The Commission settled a September 15 2003 administrative complaint charging the South Carolina State Board of Dentistry with unlawfully restraining competition by enacting a rule that required a dentist to examine every child before a dental hygienist could provide preventive dental care – such as cleanings – in schools. The Board, which is a state regulatory agency composed primarily of practicing dentists, claimed that its actions were immune from antitrust challenge under the state action doctrine, but that argument was rejected in a 2004 Commission opinion holding that the Board’s conduct was directly contrary to state law. In 2006, the court of appeals dismissed the Board’s interlocutory petition for review for lack of jurisdiction, and the Supreme Court denied certiorari in January 2007. The FTC’s 2007 consent requires the Board to publicly support the current state public health program that allows hygienists to provide preventive dental care to schoolchildren, especially those from low-income families.

Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0210128
Docket Number
9311

Advocate Health Partners, et al., In the Matter of

The final consent order settles charges that the conduct of several organizations representing more than 2,900 independent Chicago-area physicians for agreeing to fix prices and for refusing to deal with certain health plans except on collectively determined terms. The order will prohibit the respondents from engaging in such anticompetitive conduct in the future.

Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
031 0021

New Century Health Quality Alliance, Inc., Prime Care of Northeast Kansas, LLC, et al., In the Matter of

The Commission approved a final consent order settling Commission charges alleging that two independent practice associations (IPAs) and 18 member physician practices in the Kansas City, MO area, refused to deal with health care plans, except on collectively agreed-upon prices and other terms.

Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0510137

Puerto Rico Association of Endodontists, Corp., In the Matter of

The Commission approved a final consent order settling charges alleging that thirty competing association members acted unlawfully by agreeing to set the prices they would charge dental insurance plans, and by refusing to deal with plans that would not accept the collectively determined prices.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0510170

Health Care Alliance of Laredo, L.C., In the Matter of

A physicians’ independent practice association in Texas agreed to settle charges that it engaged in unlawful collective bargaining to set fees its members would accept from health insurance plans and advised its members against dealing individually with plans. The Commission charged that both practices resulted in higher medical costs for consumers. The consent order settling the FTC’s charges will prohibit the IPA from engaging in such anticompetitive conduct in the future.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0410097

Partners Health Network, Inc., In the Matter of

A physician-hospital organization operating in northwestern South Carolina, agreed to settle charges that it orchestrated and carried out agreements among its physician members to set the prices they would accept from health plans, and to refuse to deal with health plans that did not agree to its collectively determined prices. The consent order settling the FTC’s charges prohibits the PHO from collectively negotiating with health plans on behalf of its physicians and from setting terms of dealing with purchasers.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0410100

Announced Action for September 20, 2005

Date
Commission approval of petition to reopen and modify order: The Commission has approved a petition to reopen and modify a final order in the matter concerning White Sands Health Care System, L.L.C...

White Sands Health Care System, L.L.C.; et al., In the Matter of

A consent order settled charges that the White Sands Health Care System refused to deal with health care insurers that resisted the collectively negotiated prices set by its member physicians and nurse anesthetists. The complaint alleged that these practices increased costs for health care for consumers in the Alamogordo, New Mexico area. White Sands, a physician-hospital organization, consists of Alamogordo Physicians, an independent practice association; Gerald Champion Regional Medical Center, and 31 nonphysician health care providers, including all five nurse anesthetists in the area.
Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0310135

Announced Action for July 5, 2005

Date
Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a final consent order in the matter concerning San Juan IPA, Inc. The Commission vote...

Announced Actions for June 17, 2005

Date
Commission authorization of the staff to file amended complaint: The Commission has authorized the staff to file an amended complaint in the matter currently pending against Cleverlink Trading Limited...

New Millennium Orthopaedics, LLC; et al., In the Matter of

The Commission settled charges with two small groups of orthopedic physicians in the Cincinnati area that had formed an independent practice association that jointly negotiated contracts regarding the rates its physician members would charge health plans and other payors for their services. In addition to the usual prohibitions on joint negotiations, the Commission’s order disbanded the IPA and prohibited future collective bargaining.

Type of Action
Administrative
Last Updated
FTC Matter/File Number
0310087