Recapping the 2023 California Legislative Session (Part 1): Regulating Market Competition and Health System Reforms
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow November 13, 2023
On September 14, the California Legislature concluded the 2023 legislative session when it adjourned for an interim recess. The session marked the end of the first year of the two-year 2023-2024 term. In total, the Legislature introduced over 3,000 bills this session – more bills than it has introduced in more than a decade; of which, 700 bills remain active. Like past sessions, the California Legislative Beat recaps the noteworthy bills from this session that impact California’s health care market in a two-part series. In this Part 1 of our …
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The Source Roundup: November 2023 Edition
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow November 1, 2023
Healthcare Costs and Spending A Study of the Cost of Care Provided in Physician Owned Hospitals Compared to Traditional Hospitals (Physician’s Advocacy Institute and the Physicians Foundation) Robert H. Aseltine and Gregory J. Matthews The Physician’s Advocacy Institution and the Physicians Foundation released a new technical report summarizing their findings from an investigation comparing the cost of care patients across Medicare’s 20 most expensive conditions in 2019 in physician owned hospitals (POHs) and traditional hospitals. The authors assessed the statistical similarities in cost, patient demographics, and comorbidity levels between hospitals in …
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FTC Targets Private Equity Acquisitions in Latest Lawsuit Against Texas Anesthesiology Practice
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 16, 2023
Private equity investment in health care across the country has continued to garner the attention of health policy researchers and policymakers in recent years. Stakeholders are concerned that private equity ownership of physician practices prioritizes profit over patient care quality. Despite concerns of potential impacts on price and quality arising from these private equity transactions in the health care industry, few enforcement actions have occurred. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took the lead in challenging one of these arrangements, suing a private equity firm retroactively in federal court …
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The Source Roundup: October 2023 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 2, 2023
Consolidation and Competition A Doctrine in Name Only — Strengthening Prohibitions against the Corporate Practice of Medicine (NEJM) Jane M. Zhu, Hayden Rooke-Ley, and Erin Fuse Brown The NEJM perspective examines state corporate practice of medicine laws that prevent ownership or control of physician practices by corporate entities. In an accompanying audio interview, Erin Fuse Brown discusses the role of these laws, including the usefulness and how they could be strengthened. Competition in Commercial PBM Markets and Vertical Integration of Health Insurers with PBMs: 2023 Update (American Medical Association) José R. …
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The Source and Petris Center Submits Comments in Support of Federal Draft Merger Guidelines
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 18, 2023
On September 18, The Source on Healthcare Price and Competition, together with UC Berkeley’s Petris Center, submitted public comments on the Federal Draft Merger Guidelines published on July 19. Jointly released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), the draft guidelines proposed new considerations and guidance in the antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions, taking into account new developments and market realities in recent years. These new guidelines would replace the horizontal merger guidelines of 2010 and vertical merger guidelines of 2020 which have been withdrawn by …
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California District Court’s Exclusion of Evidence under Scrutiny as Ninth Circuit Hears Oral Arguments in the Appeal of Sidibe v. Sutter Health Class Action
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 15, 2023
See case page: Sidibe v. Sutter Health On August 24, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in the appeal of the federal class action Sidibe v. Sutter Health. A jury verdict in March 2022 in the Northern District Court of California had cleared the hospital giant of anticompetitive allegations that were initially filed over a decade ago. The alleged practices were also at issue in the case filed in state court by a labor union that was later joined by the attorney general, UEBT v. Sutter Health. …
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California Legislative Beat: Final State Budget for 2023-2024 Fiscal Year
Mary Mitchell, Student Fellow September 13, 2023
After much debate fueled by disagreement over California’s $31.5 billion deficit, lawmakers and Governor Newsom have finalized the state’s 2023-2024 budget. The final budget bill outlines a $310 billion spending plan that includes $248.1 billion for Health and Human Services programs,[1] up from $245.69 billion in the May Revision.[2] Stakeholders can breathe a sigh of relief: core health programs will not face budget cuts, and California’s commitment to health care generally, and Medi-Cal in particular, remains strong. Consistent with the proposed budget in the May Revision, California continues to move …
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The Source Roundup: September 2023 Edition
Mary Mitchell, Student Fellow September 1, 2023
Our roundup of studies and reports for this month focuses on healthcare costs and consolidation, including a paper written by The Source teama examining state action to regulate healthcare mergers and acquisitions. We also share two studies relating to impacts of consolidation and acquisition; one compares post-surgery outcomes in high and low concentration markets, and the other takes a broad view of costs and quality at acquired hospitals. Next, a systemic review analyzes trends and impacts of private equity acquisition and a study compares hospital prices paid between Medicare Advantage …
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Just Published: Research Report on State-imposed Conditions on Healthcare Provider Transactions
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor August 16, 2023
In a new research paper published in Frontiers in Public Health Volume 11, The Source’s Alex Montague, Robin Davison, Katie Gudiksen, and Jaime King examine the use of conditional approvals by state officials on hospital and health system mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions. While federal antitrust enforcers play an important role in overseeing large mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions of major healthcare providers, state oversight over healthcare markets is essential to slow consolidation more broadly and address market failures across the country. One method states have used to address …
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[Case Brief] AAEM-PG v. Envision Healthcare: Corporate Practice of Medicine Challenges Private Equity Acquisition in Health Care
Mary Mitchell, Student Fellow August 15, 2023
As private equity (PE) investment in healthcare draws scrutiny from advocates and regulators, one lawsuit has been in the spotlight as a potentially important precedent-setter, particularly regarding its corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) claims: American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group (AAEM-PG) v. Envision Healthcare. The Independent Emergency Physicians Consortium called this case a “momentous event” that could signal an inflection point in the increasing corporatization of medicine.[1] However, proceedings have been on pause since May 2023, when the defendant filed for bankruptcy, and it is unclear if and when …
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