Mission lawsuit merger: Asheville, Buncombe, Brevard try to team up in class action case

ASHEVILLE - Separate lawsuits brought by the city of Brevard and, jointly, Buncombe County and the city of Asheville, could merge into one, large antitrust, class action case against HCA Healthcare and Mission Health, according to a motion filed in both cases Aug. 4.

"The Parties all believe that consolidation of the Brevard and Buncombe Actions is appropriate," attorneys wrote in the motion, using the city and the county names to represent the two lawsuits. Both are filed in the U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs are asking to file the consolidated lawsuit by Aug. 19.

According to federal rules governing civil procedure, cases that “involve a common question of law or fact" can be consolidated.

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Though not carbon copies of each other, the Brevard and Buncombe-Asheville cases bear numerous similarities. Both allege noncompetitive and monopolistic behavior by for-profit HCA Healthcare, which owns Mission Health hospitals in Buncombe — Mission Hospital — and Brevard — Transylvania Regional Hospital.

The Buncombe-Asheville case was filed July 27 and Brevard's was filed June 3.

"We pretty much have the same issues when you look at the suits," Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof told the Citizen Times Aug. 4. "I think that, in terms of identifying the problem and the redress that we're looking at moving forward, our goals and our issues are closely aligned."

Attorneys for the plaintiffs were not immediately available for comment. Buncombe County Board of Commissioners Chair Brownie Newman and city of Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer both deferred to legal counsel when asked for comment. 

A Mission/HCA spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brevard's motion to consolidate the cases states they "present nearly identical questions of law and fact. Each alleges the same underlying conduct: that Defendants (HCA and Mission) unlawfully restrained competition and monopolized the inpatient and outpatient health care markets in Western North Carolina, thereby inflating health care prices paid by Plaintiffs and proposed class member health plans."

Furthermore, each lawsuit was brought "on behalf of the same proposed class of insurers and health plans that allegedly paid for inpatient and/or outpatient services from one or more Defendants during the same time period," the motion states.

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Bundling the lawsuits together would, additionally, essentially cut down clutter in many ways, avoiding "inefficiency, delay, confusion, and prejudice by having all Plaintiffs litigate their overlapping claims on behalf of the same proposed class in a single action instead of multiple, parallel actions," according to the motion.

It also would reduce a "burden" on witnesses and conserved judicial resources, since the two cases would likely take similar routes in the discovery phase of the lawsuit, should it make it that far.

All parties in the proposed consolidated lawsuit will have to wait on a judge's ruling and HCA attorneys may respond before that ruling.

U.S. District Court of Western North Carolina Chief Judge Martin Reidinger is presiding over both cases.

Attorneys for the plaintiffs asked for the judge to grant nine stipulations that could govern the consolidation process, including orders on how long the process will take and how defendants can respond.

Andrew Jones is Buncombe County government and health care reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at @arjonesreports on Facebook and Twitter, 828-226-6203 or arjones@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.