Sutter Health Asks Judge to Toss AG's Suit

The Sacramento-based health system says the issues raised in an anti-competitive suit would impose 'onerous managerial duties' on the court and instead should be handled by state regulators.

Sutter Health has asked a California court to dismiss a suit brought by the state's attorney general that alleges the health system engaged in systematic anti-competitive practices.

In a motion for dismissal filed this week in the California Superior Court for San Francisco County, attorneys for Sacramento-based Sutter argued that Attorney General Xavier Becerra has made "an unprecedented plea that the court force Sutter to submit to mandatory binding arbitration over its contract terms."

"This is not a suit the Court should consider," the motion stated. "Rather, it should invoke the doctrine of judicial abstention and decline the Attorney General's invitation to assume the role of healthcare policy czar by exercising its powers to dismantle the Sutter system and impose the relief sought in this case."

• Instead of the courts, Sutter argued that the "onerous managerial duties" would be better handled by the executive and legislative branches of government which already have the authority and "are better suited to provide long-term oversight over the healthcare contracting issues raised in this case."
   
• The AG's suit, filed on March 29, alleges that Sutter Health’s practices were illegal and resulted in higher prices for healthcare in Northern California.
   
• "Sutter Health is throwing its weight around in the healthcare market, engaging in illegal, anticompetitive pricing that hurts California families," Becerra said at the filing.

"These tactics are risking Californians' lives by driving up the cost of healthcare for everyone," Becerra said. "Big business should not be able to throttle competition at the expense of patients."

A hearing on Sutter's motion is scheduled for June 11.