Partners, Mass. deal clears way for expansion

The deal, part of an agreement to allow Partners HealthCare System to acquire South Shore Hospital, would resolve an antitrust investigation and require Partners to pay for both an investigation into its practices and a court-appointed monitor.

The Boston Globe: Partners, Coakley File Agreement On Expansion
Partners HealthCare System has agreed to pay $3.3 million to cover the cost of the state's five-year investigation into its market power, and for a court-appointed monitor to scrutinize its actions for the next decade. The payments are detailed in a much-anticipated final agreement between the health care giant and Attorney General Martha Coakley that was filed in Suffolk Superior Court on Tuesday. The consent judgment follows the outlines of a preliminary agreement reached by the two sides in May, allowing Partners to acquire South Shore Hospital in Weymouth and at least two other community hospitals, but restricting its further expansion and temporarily capping its prices (Kowalczyk and Weisman 6/25).

WBUR: AG Deal With Partners Filed In Court: Restricts Growth, Costs
Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Tuesday reached an agreement with Partners HealthCare that she says will alter the hospital network's negotiating power for years to come. The deal would resolve an antitrust investigation by the attorney general's office and ultimately allow Partners to acquire South Shore Hospital. "Our office was the first to shine a light on the ability of Partners to charge higher prices based on its negotiating power," Coakley said in a statement. "Today's resolution is the first action of its kind to directly address that market dysfunction" (Bebinger, 6/24).