John Arnold contrasted public-employee unions and pharmaceutical firms with campaigns to reform government-funded pensions and reduce high drug prices. Now the Texas billionaire has a new enemy: the monopoly of big hospitals.
A philanthropic organization founded by an ex-energy businessman and his wife Laura is funding three lawsuits against giant hospital systems in Wisconsin, Connecticut and North Carolina, alleging that the system used its market power to squash competition. And done illegally to raise prices. The system says the lawsuits from employers and consumers are baseless.