Wisconsin Hospital Giant Accused of Driving Up Health-Care Costs

One of the largest hospital systems in the Midwest is facing a class action alleging that it engaged in anticompetitive and monopolistic practices that led to artificially high health-care costs for consumers.

The antitrust lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, alleges that the hospital chain Advocate Aurora Health leveraged the market power it obtained through consolidating other hospitals to charge commercial health plans and their members unreasonably high prices. The lawsuit also contends that the hospital group devised contracts with insurers that forced consumers into overpriced care.

Lawyers representing Patrick Shaw, Debra ...