ProMedica Files Motion to Dismiss McLaren St. Luke's Antitrust Lawsuit

ProMedica alleges the plaintiffs' complaint is "an abuse of the antitrust laws."

ProMedica Health System has filed a motion to dismiss McLaren St. Luke's antitrust lawsuit. The motion and memorandum filed on December 4 calls the plaintiffs' complaint "an abuse of the antitrust laws."

Last month, McLaren St. Luke's filed an antitrust lawsuit against ProMedica, alleging that ProMedica "engaged in a pattern of monopolistic and anticompetitive behavior designed to maintain and increase its dominant market position by limiting patient choice."

The lawsuit is a move to stop ProMedica from terminating McLaren St. Luke's and its physicians from both its commercial and Medicare Advantage health plans at the start of 2021.

In the 21-page memorandum, ProMedica "respectfully requests an order granting its motion to dismiss with prejudice."

Key quotes from the memorandum's introduction include:

• "Antitrust laws exist to promote competition, not to promote the narrow business interests of a single competitor. Plaintiffs' requested relief would stifle, rather than promote, competition."
• With the acquisition of St. Luke’s by McLaren Health Care Corporation, "the competition that ProMedica and the FTC envisioned [has now] arrived in Lucas County. Two large, vertically-integrated health systems are investing in new facilities and clinicians as part of vigorous, head-to-head competition that the antitrust laws protect and promote."
• "… ProMedica exercised its contractual rights to do exactly what St. Lukes's agreed to and what the FTC blessed: ProMedica ended the temporary and extraordinary assistance it offered to a locally-owned hospital trying to get back on its feet, and repositioned itself to compete with a fundamentally new competitor, one that is armed with its own health plan, deep pockets, and a self-proclaimed track record of market success. Terminating these contracts enhanced rather than harmed competition … ."
• "McLaren St. Luke’s wants less rather than more competition, and through this [lawsuit] asks the Court to allow McLaren St. Luke’s to take a free ride on ProMedica’s investments. … This is not the way competition works, and is not good for consumers: McLaren St. Luke’s should get its own doctors, its own health plan, and compete."