About: Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor
Amy Y. Gu, J.D. is the Managing Editor for the Source on Healthcare Price & Competition. She holds a J.D. from Loyola Law School and a B.A. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. Prior to joining the Source, she practiced civil litigation in the San Francisco Bay Area, and later engaged in corporate compliance and discovery, representing various global pharmaceutical companies. Driven by an entrepreneurial mindset and her talents for marketing and web design, Amy also co-founded and successfully launched a startup in e-commerce. She is excited to bring to the Source a unique set of experience and perspective from both law and tech.FTC Challenges Antitrust Immunity Under Louisiana COPA
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 15, 2023
The healthcare market is seeing intense antitrust scrutiny in recent years at both the federal and state level. As the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ) step up their enforcement efforts, some states are exploring avenues to allow healthcare entities to pursue consolidating transactions the state deems beneficial and avoid antitrust challenge. One of them is the use of certificate of public advantages (COPA). A recent slew of antitrust immunity disputes coming out of a healthcare merger in Louisiana brought the use of COPA and state action …
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FTC Shows Aggressive Enforcement Agenda in Decision to Unwind Vertical Merger in Healthcare Technology
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 17, 2023
The federal agencies have been flexing their muscles in antitrust enforcement in recent years to reinvigorate competition. This month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ordered the unwinding of a completed merger that combined gene sequencing company Illumina and cancer test developer Grail. This move is highly unusual not only because of the vertical nature of the consolidation, which typically receives less antitrust scrutiny, but also how the Commission unanimously voted to undo a consummated merger while overturning an administrative court ruling in the process. For these reasons, this latest development …
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The Source Founder Jaime King Discusses The Trials and Triumphs of Health Care Antitrust Law on NEJM
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 23, 2023
In a New England Journal of Medicine article and accompanying interview, The Source Founder and Distinguished Fellow Jaime S. King provides an overview of the history of healthcare antitrust law and enforcement and discusses the functions of antitrust law and the effects of health care consolidation on prices, quality of care, and access to care. The perspective piece asserts that combining competitive and regulatory forces may offer the only hope for controlling health care prices, restoring high-quality care, protecting health care workers, and preserving and expanding access to care. Check out …
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Healthcare Merger Watch Q1 2023: Nationwide Cross-Market Merger Mania
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 15, 2023
In this first healthcare merger watch of 2023, we highlight some consolidation activities from the first quarter in the healthcare industry. In a trend that has continued in recent years, healthcare entities in the latest proposed and pending deals are increasingly exploring consolidation in new and innovative ways, across different geographic regions and involving different healthcare players in the industry. Even though federal and state antitrust enforcers often successfully challenge traditional, horizontal mergers and acquisitions, transactions involving cross-market consolidation are typically not challenged due to less straightforward legal and economic …
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DOJ Withdraws Decades Old Guidance on Antitrust Enforcement in Health Care
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 15, 2023
Since the Biden administration’s release of the Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy in July 2021, federal enforcement agencies have visibly advanced their efforts to step up enforcement actions and continued to push forward new enforcement agenda. In the latest development, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on February 3 the withdrawal of three federal enforcement policy statements, which removes some of the safe harbor protections that were established for healthcare entity activities nearly three decades ago. DOJ’s action is a direct response to the executive order’s call for …
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Source Executive Editor to Appear on Connecticut CTNetworkTV to Discuss Healthcare Cost Drivers and Solutions
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 2, 2023
Updated: February 6, 2023 On Friday, February 3, Source Executive Editor Katie Gudiksen will speak at the Connecticut & U.S. Healthcare Cost Drivers Informational Session II regarding rate review and global budgets. This is an all-day event jointly hosted by the Connecticut Insurance Department, Office of Health Strategy, and Office of the Healthcare Advocate (OHA). It will be broadcast live on the Connecticut CTNetworkTV @9AM – 3PM EST on https://ct-n.com/ and recorded for future viewing. Updated 2/6: Recording is now available here. Katie’s presentation “Roadmap to Constrain Commercial Health Care …
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Major Insurers See Antitrust Enforcement Action Headed to Appeals
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 17, 2023
We ended 2022 with an update on trends in healthcare provider consolidation and enforcement actions. In this inaugural 2023 issue of Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we turn to the latest action in healthcare payer enforcement and litigation. Major insurers UnitedHealth and Blue Cross Blue Shield experienced similar antitrust woes lately, as both insurers saw their seemingly finalized lawsuits headed to the appeals court. UnitedHealth Merger Challenge Continues Post-Acquisition The UnitedHealth and Change Healthcare merger lawsuit grabbed headlines at the end of last year. The deal was officially consummated in …
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The Source Roundup: January 2023 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 3, 2023
Happy New Year, Source Readers! We kick off 2023 with highlights of some reports and articles that you may have missed from December. In surprise billing protection efforts, the implementation of the No Surprises Act is hitting unexpected backlogs in the IDR process, while the loophole of ground ambulance surprise bills also warrants further policy attention. Reports on healthcare spending and out-of-pocket costs suggest that healthcare is becoming less affordable as out-of-pocket costs continued to rise. Lastly, a pair of studies on value-based payment models reveal flaws in the systems …
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Healthcare Consolidation Q4 2022: Cross-Market Mergers Continue Apace
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 15, 2022
2022 has been an active year in healthcare consolidation as well as for merger challenges and enforcement. As we approach the year end, healthcare deals continued as many entities seek to close the transactions before the new year. Increasingly, as seen in the 4th quarter, healthcare deals are shifting to cross-market transactions, making review and enforcement efforts more challenging. In case you missed it, this final Litigation and Enforcement Highlights of the year will help you catch up on some of the cross-market deals in Q4 2022 that caught our …
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The Source Launches New “Provider Rate Regulation” Interactive Key Issue Pages
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 1, 2022
The Source on Healthcare Price & Competition is thrilled to announce the launch of the newest interactive key issue pages in Provider Rate Regulation. Along with a report published in Frontiers in Health Services, this series of key issue pages aim to provide state policymakers with a roadmap of effective strategies to address rapidly increasing prices. In many markets, where existing competition are insufficient to constrain the pricing power of dominant insurers and providers, policymakers need to consider options to directly limit the unrelenting increase of healthcare prices that threatens the affordability of health care for Americans. With support …
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