OhioHealth Reaches Agreement with DOJ and Ohio AG

COLUMBUS, Ohio – OhioHealth has reached an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the Ohio Attorney General to end litigation over language in certain managed care contracts. OhioHealth does not admit any wrongdoing in the agreement, and maintains their contracting practices were and are lawful and appropriate. OhioHealth will not pay penalties, fines or damages.

The contract provisions in question date back as far as two decades and were designed to provide protections to OhioHealth from specific insurance company practices common at the time. Since then, both the healthcare and insurance landscapes have changed. 

OhioHealth periodically renegotiates these contracts with various payors in a highly competitive market. Payors have always retained flexibility in designing and offering healthcare plans to meet the needs of employers and consumers. Notably, no insurer had requested that OhioHealth remove any of the provisions that were the focus of the lawsuit. 

As a not-for-profit, faith-based healthcare system, OhioHealth’s priority has always been and continues to be providing patients and their families with high-quality, accessible, affordable healthcare across the communities it serves. OhioHealth is choosing to resolve this lawsuit to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation. 

OhioHealth is a leader in providing high-quality care to our patients, with many of its hospitals receiving high Medicare Star ratings when compared to other area facilities. OhioHealth partners closely with the communities it serves to build programming and services that address healthcare disparities, improve outcomes, and deliver an industry-leading patient experience across Ohio. 

Key takeaways:

• OhioHealth does not admit that there was any wrongdoing.
• OhioHealth will not pay penalties, fines or damages, and welcomes the opportunity to promote transparency around how our patients and their insurance pay for healthcare.
• OhioHealth believes in competition and is committed to earning the trust of our patients and their families through industry-leading patient experience, quality outcomes and safety, physician and associate engagement, and deep collaboration with our communities to provide affordable, local services.
• The agreement will be submitted to the court for approval and final judgment will be available to the public.