The US government is cracking down on hospital contracting practices that it alleges are anticompetitive and drive up health care costs. The Justice Department has sued the New York-Presbyterian hospital system, alleging that contracts were written that forced its facilities to be in their most favored tier and prevented insurers from offering incentives to patients seeking lower-priced alternatives. This follows a lawsuit by OhioHealth alleging that these contracts force patients to pay higher prices. The Federal Trade Commission has also launched a new health care task force investigating allegations of antitrust and anti-competitive conduct in many healthcare markets. Almost two dozen states have anti-competition contracting restrictions on providers and insurers, and DOJ is joining states, employers, and labor unions that have filed similar lawsuits against health systems. The high-profile lawsuits come as health care affordability looms large in the lead-up to the midterm elections.