Policing hospital mergers has become a top enforcement priority among federal antitrust enforcers. In 2020 alone, the FTC sued to block three hospital transactions (Jefferson/Einstein, Methodist Le Bonheur/Tenet and...more
Over the last several years, antitrust prosecutors at the Department of Justice have repeatedly cautioned that anticompetitive agreements affecting labor markets can be the subject of criminal prosecution under the antitrust...more
12/18/2020
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Investigations ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Criminal Conspiracy ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Wage-Fixing
Antitrust enforcement against physicians and hospitals is common, but criminal antitrust prosecutions of health care providers are very rare. There were none for over 50 years, between 1940 and 1990. The Antitrust Division...more
On April 23, a federal court in Rhode Island fired a warning shot over the bow of dominant health insurers across the country, holding that a refusal to negotiate in good faith with a healthcare provider that focuses...more
Consolidation in health insurance markets can injure hospitals and doctors by creating buyer-side market power that can force providers to accept below-market prices, limit patients’ access to care, and reduce innovation in...more
8/1/2016
/ Aetna ,
Anthem Blue Cross ,
Anticompetitive Behavior ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
CIGNA ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Elder Issues ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Humana ,
Insurance Industry ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Mergers ,
Monopolization
In reviewing mergers of healthcare providers, government antitrust enforcers have historically focused on horizontal mergers between competing providers—in particular, those that result in high market shares in a specific...more
3/18/2015
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Hospitals ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
St. Luke's
When competing health care providers affiliate by contract, rather than by merger or acquisition, they often face the challenge of structuring their joint activities to avoid liability under § 1 of the Sherman Act, which...more