Partners HealthCare could be in for a knock-down, drag-out legal fight with Attorney General Maura Healey if they move to merge with three smaller hospitals, analysts said yesterday after a Superior Court judge scuttled a deal that would have let the medical behemoth expand its sweeping reach.
"I think that Partners is facing a new attorney general who seems much more bent on litigating than her predecessor ... It would be hard for them to win a litigation," said Matthew Cantor, a New York health care antitrust lawyer.
"Does that mean the attorney general wouldn't settle with them on any basis? I can't say that. But she seems like she's much more likely to get into a tussle," Cantor said.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Janet L. Sanders issued a 48-page decision that quashed a deal reached between Partners and former Attorney General Martha Coakley after lengthy negotiations.
It would have allowed Partners, — which employs 6,500 doctors and operates Massachusetts General Hospital, Brigham and Women's and six other acute care facilities, — to acquire South Shore, Lawrence Memorial and Melrose-Wakefield hospitals.
Healey issued a statement saying she's ready to go to court, and "it is now Partners' decision whether to proceed" with the merger. "Our office is prepared to litigate to block this transaction if Partners chooses to move forward," she said. "We remain committed to tackling the challenge of controlling health care costs while also promoting quality and access."
Partners president and CEO Gary Gottlieb sent an email to employees, saying that the news was "very disappointing for all involved in this process."
"Our leadership team will now take the time to evaluate all of our options," Gottlieb wrote.
The judge ruled the deal didn't address concerns about rising costs created by Partners' market dominance.
"By permitting the acquisitions, the settlement, if adopted by this Court, would cement Partners' already strong position in the health care market and give it the ability, because of this market muscle, to exact higher prices from insurers for the services its providers render," Sanders wrote.
Her decision echoed fears raised by the Health Policy Commission, which found that health care costs would soar by between $38.5 million and $49 million for the state's top three insurance companies.
"The court basically threw up its hands and said, 'It's way beyond our competence to understand the price mechanisms to make it work,'" said Boston College Law School professor Brian Quinn. "Partners is left in a situation where litigation is back on the plate. The next step is the court will say, 'You'll need to come up with something else.'"
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