Union health plans that represent electricians and plumbers in Texas have filed a class-action lawsuit against physician group U.S. Anesthesia Partners and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe.
The lawsuit builds on the Federal Trade Commission’s complaint filed in September, which argued USAP and Welsh Carson illegally bought up anesthesia practices across Texas as a way to concentrate market power, gain negotiating leverage over health insurance companies, and raise prices.
The unions said USAP also had “price-fixing agreements” with anesthesia groups that it could not acquire, and therefore kept those rivals at bay. For example, within those agreements, anesthesia groups gave USAP the authority to bill insurers for their anesthesia services, and USAP used that power to charge insurers higher prices.