The Eugene, Ore.-based health plan filed the suit against Legacy Health, Providence Health and Services and OHSU Health System, all based in Portland.
Trillium alleges that the Portland health systems have engaged in a “group boycott” that if left unchecked, “would have a significant negative impact on Oregon Health Plan members, limiting the healthcare choices of some of the most vulnerable members of Oregon’s community,” according to The Portland Business Journal.
In July, the Oregon Health Authority named Trillium a “next generation” coordinated care organization and awarded it the contract to serve Medicaid patients in the Portland area. CCOs, as they are known as, work together to provide healthcare services and benefits to patients enrolled in the state’s Medicaid program.
Since then, Trillium claims that it “pursued every avenue” to work with the three health systems without success, and without them, it is unable to break into the metro area Medicaid market.
Legacy, Providence and OHSU are all founding members of Health Share, the existing CCO in the area that will compete against Trillium.
“The hospitals’ anticompetitive behavior leaves Trillium no choice but to file an antitrust action in the hopes that the collusion will stop and that Trillium will be granted the ability to work with the Portland area hospitals,” the suit reads, according to the Business Journal.
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