Antitrust enforcement widens beyond tech
The Department of Justice sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital, alleging contracts with insurers blocked lower‑priced plans and stifled competition. (natlawreview.com) At the same time, ticketing and ad markets are facing large-scale scrutiny — a Manhattan jury is weighing a major Ticketmaster case while advertisers are exploring mass arbitration against Google. ( )
Federal antitrust enforcers are pushing beyond Silicon Valley, with new fights over hospital contracts, concert tickets and digital advertising. (justice.gov; courthousenews.com; adexchanger.com) On March 26, 2026, the Department of Justice sued New York-Presbyterian Hospital in Manhattan federal court, accusing the hospital system of using insurer contracts to block plans that steered patients to lower-cost rivals. The complaint says those terms violated Section 1 of the Sherman Act. (justice.gov; justice.gov) The government says New York-Presbyterian barred insurers from offering plan designs that would put the hospital in a less favorable tier than competing hospitals. New York-Presbyterian said it would “vigorously defend” itself and called the lawsuit “wrong on the facts and the law.” (justice.gov; natlawreview.com) That case puts hospital contracting next to two other active antitrust fronts. In Manhattan, a jury is weighing claims against Live Nation and Ticketmaster after closing arguments in a case now being led by 36 states and the District of Columbia. (courthousenews.com; courthousenews.com) The Justice Department had sued Live Nation and Ticketmaster in 2024 seeking a breakup, then announced a settlement on March 9, 2026, for up to $280 million plus divestitures and changes to ticketing and venue practices. That deal still left the states pressing their own case at trial. (courthousenews.com; pbs.org; cnbc.com) In advertising, the pressure comes after a federal judge ruled on April 17, 2025, that Google illegally monopolized parts of the open-web ad tech market. The Justice Department said the court found Google harmed publishers, competition and consumers. (justice.gov; cnbc.com) That ruling is now feeding private claims. AdExchanger reported on April 15, 2026, that Keller Postman is organizing mass arbitration for advertisers who say Google’s monopoly let it overcharge them, using arbitration clauses the company required in its contracts. (adexchanger.com) The common thread is not a single industry but a common allegation: a dominant company used contracts or control points to limit cheaper or rival options. In the hospital case, the control point is insurer network design; in ticketing, it is venues, promotion and ticket sales; in ad tech, it is the software that matches publishers with advertisers. (justice.gov; courthousenews.com; justice.gov) What happens next is different in each case: the New York-Presbyterian suit is just beginning, the Live Nation trial is in the jury’s hands, and Google faces follow-on claims after losing on liability in ad tech. Together, they show antitrust law moving into hospitals, concerts and the plumbing of online ads at the same time. (justice.gov; courthousenews.com; adexchanger.com)
