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September 14, 2021

Fertility clinics, practice firms agree to $1.6M antitrust settlements

Photo | Office of Attorney General William Tong Attorney General William Tong.
By Liese Klein

Fertility clinics the Center for Advanced Reproductive Services and Reproductive Medicine Associates of CT plus two Avon practice-management firms have agreed to settlements totaling $1.6 million with the state over alleged price-fixing and anticompetitive conduct.

The two settlements are the first of their kind in Connecticut involving anticompetitive conduct by a physician practice-management company representing multiple providers.

The Center for Advanced Reproductive Services is based in Farmington, with offices in Branford, Hartford and New London.

Practice management firms Women’s Health USA and In Vitro Science Inc., both of Avon,  represented multiple healthcare providers in contract negotiations with third-party payors, according to state Attorney General William Tong. 

Tong’s office began an investigation after getting tips on “possible price fixing and other anticompetitive conduct” during a separate probe of the clinics, the state’s largest providers of fertility services. 

The probe found evidence that In Vitro Science (IVS) was providing services beyond typical practice management starting in the late 1990s. (Until 2019, IVS was a subsidiary of Women’s Health USA and shared ownership, management and office space.)

IVS provided services to both fertility clinics and broke the law by jointly negotiating reimbursement rates for in vitro fertilization and other assisted reproductive technology services in Connecticut, Tong said. The firm also made a deal to restrict one clinic from encroaching on the other clinic’s territory.

“Anti-competitive business practices in the healthcare market hurt patients and families by driving up prices for health care treatments and services,” Tong said in a statement announcing the settlement. “Our office stands ready to make sure that all Connecticut markets, not just healthcare, are open and competitive.”

In addition to the cash, the settlement bars IVS from representing Reproductive Medicine Associates of CT in any negotiations for reimbursement contracts with third-party payors, prohibits the two clinics from merging for a period of three years, and requires all parties to enact antitrust compliance programs.

 

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