This is the concluding installment of a six-part series discussing the Federal Trade Commission's challenges to provider mergers. Following the initial Introduction and Background (Part 1), the series discusses The Need for...more
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
In a rare appellate opinion addressing the merits of a merger challenge, the Ninth Circuit last month sided with the Federal Trade Commission, finding that a 2012 merger of two health care providers in Idaho was likely to...more
On February 10, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (which covers Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Alaska, Hawaii and Arizona) ordered St. Luke’s Health System, Ltd. (“St....more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and a Massachusetts Superior Court each recently released decisions dealing with alleged violations of antitrust prohibitions that implicate a number of important issues surrounding health...more
On February 10, 2015, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) achieved a historic victory when a U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that a hospital's acquisition of a physician's group – the transaction challenged by the FTC – ran afoul...more
Healthcare providers frequently consolidate to cut costs and improve patient care. These benefits can result from sharing administrative costs such as billing and electronic recordkeeping, eliminating excess capacity, better...more
On February 10, 2015, the Ninth Circuit issued its highly-anticipated decision at the intersection of health care and antitrust, affirming the lower court’s finding that a hospital-physician group merger completed nearly...more
The Ninth Circuit last week held that St. Luke’s Health System’s purchase of a physician practice group violated federal antitrust laws. In doing so, it upheld a district court’s order that the merger be dissolved. ...more
On February 10, 2015, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court’s ruling that St. Luke’s Health System’s acquisition of the independent physician group Saltzer Medical Group violated...more
With the ink still drying on the Ninth Circuit’s opinion affirming the Idaho federal district court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System to unwind its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group—a for-profit, physician-owned,...more
In a much anticipated appellate health care antitrust decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld a district court’s finding that a consummated hospital-physician group merger violated Section 7...more
On February 10, 2014, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit affirmed a district court decision, which held that St. Luke’s Health System’s (“St. Luke’s”) acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) violated...more