OhioHealth settles with DOJ over allegations of ripping off insurers

Well, well, well… just as everyone is out there accusing the Trump administration of doing absolutely nothing to hold down prices for pissed- off Americans ahead of a tough midterm election, what did the Buckeye team uncover when we opened our inboxes after lunch today?

It turns out the Trump DOJ has forced OhioHealth to settle over allegations of ripping off health insurers– and that means you and me, the people who pay for health insurance, whether it’s in the form of lost salary, payments for benefits, buying our insurance on the Obamacare exchanges or directly from insurers, or via Medicaid and Medicare Advantage, which are substantially taxpayer-funded but rely on private insurance as opposed to taxpayer-funded direct payments to providers.

From Healthcare Dive:

The DOJ and Ohio’s attorney general sued OhioHealth in February, accusing the regional nonprofit of leveraging its market dominance to force insurers to include its providers in their networks — even if those providers were costlier than competitors. As a result, OhioHealth was able to get away with charging higher prices than other systems, especially in the Columbus metropolitan area, where the system controls a large swath of acute care services, the DOJ said.

The suit sought to block OhioHealth from enforcing those contract provisions and from retaliating against insurers that attempted to introduce more “budget-conscious” plans — terms that the system agreed to in Tuesday’s settlement. The deal also appoints a monitor to ensure OhioHealth’s compliance over the next five years.

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OhioHealth said it agreed to the settlement to avoid the costs of drawn-out litigation.

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OhioHealth operates 16 hospitals in the state in addition to outpatient facilities, physician groups and other clinics. Unlike some of its regional nonprofit peers, OhioHealth has recently posted relatively high operating margins, including a 10% margin in its 2025 fiscal year. That’s compared to an average nonprofit hospital margin of 1.1%, according to Fitch Ratings.

If the administration has a single, solitary clue (unclear, as of now) it will trumpet this to the high heavens. God knows Sen. Husted needs it if he’s really going to defeat Sherrod Brown and hold on to his Senate seat.