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.Federal Antitrust Scrutiny of Healthcare Industry Intensifies During Pandemic
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 15, 2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought national attention to the inner workings of the healthcare industry, exposing many of its shortcomings and issues. Many are now taking a renewed look at the U.S. healthcare system as a whole and the underlying problems that arise from the actions of its various players. Early this year, healthcare transactions that have largely escaped federal antitrust review are now being hauled into the spotlight in new attempts to promote greater competition in the healthcare market. Physician Consolidation Garners Attention as the FTC Seeks to …
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Spotlight on State: South Carolina
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 12, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See South Carolina page. While South Carolina law does not mandate an all-payer claims database (APCD), the Division of Medicaid Policy Research at the University of South Carolina Institute for Families in Society maintains a private database of voluntary claims submissions. The South Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (SCDHHS), which operates the …
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Spotlight on State: Maine
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor February 4, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See Maine page. Maine is a state that actively promotes healthcare price transparency. The Maine Health Data Organization (MHDO), an independent executive agency that the legislature established in 1996, operates the state’s all-payer claims database (APCD). The MHDO has collected health insurance claims information since 2003 and currently shares claims from commercial insurance carriers, …
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Spotlight on State: California
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 29, 2021
This is part of a series of summaries that highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Check back on The Source as we roll out additional states each week. See California page. The state of California is a national leader in healthcare price and competition initiatives and continues to make strides in healthcare system reform. In price transparency, California’s repeated efforts to establish an all-payer claims database came to fruition with the passage of AB 1810 in 2018, after a long road of legislative efforts …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – January 2021
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 14, 2021
We kick off the new year with a handful of new developments in healthcare litigation and enforcement that transpired at the end of 2020. In price transparency, a pair of legal challenges intended to block transparency efforts in drug pricing and hospital pricing, respectively, were denied by the circuit courts. On the antitrust front, the Federal Trade Commission saw both victory and defeat in its challenges of proposed mergers that would lessen competition in the healthcare markets. Judges Refuses to Block California’s Drug Pricing Transparency Law SB 17 On …
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Health Affairs Blog Posts Highlight the Database of State Laws Impacting Healthcare Cost and Quality
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor January 14, 2021
The Source kicked off the New Year with a trio of blog posts in the Health Affairs Blog that highlights the Database of State Laws Impacting Healthcare Cost and Quality (SLIHCQ). The SLIHCQ Database was developed in partnership with the Catalyst for Payment Reform (“CPR”) and is an interactive tool that hosts ongoing state legislative efforts to implement healthcare reform. It is intuitively designed to allow policymakers and other stakeholders to customize and filter their searches by key issue and state. In collaboration with CPR, The Source Executive Editor Jaime …
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Year in Review: 2020 Sees A Flurry of Federal Healthcare Antitrust Challenges
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 14, 2020
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to ravage the nation, it has put economic stress on smaller healthcare providers, giving larger health systems the opportunity to gain market power through more rampant merger and acquisition activity. In response, the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice also stepped up their antitrust enforcement efforts. In this year-end Litigation and Enforcement Highlights issue, we round up federal enforcement challenges of provider mergers in 2020 and look at the latest status of these actions. Jefferson Health/Albert Einstein (Pennsylvania) The Federal Trade Commission …
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[Sutter Case Watch] 60 Minutes Episode: “The High Cost of Healing” Highlights Sutter Health Antitrust Case
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 14, 2020
In a new 60 Minutes episode aired on 12/13/20 (S53 E15), CBS interviews California attorney general Xavier Becerra in its investigation of anticompetitive practices by Sutter Health that led to higher health care costs in California. Watch the story here.
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[Article Highlight] Why the Biden Administration Should Help States Develop Capitated Public Options
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 9, 2020
A new article published in the Milbank Quarterly Opinion proposes the new Biden administration should help states develop capitated public options as part of its health policy agenda, which could lay the groundwork for a federal public option. Authored by Source Advisory Board Member Richard Scheffler and Thomas Rice, the article examines the recent efforts of Washington and Colorado in developing quasi-public options in their states. The authors identify specific states, including California, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, as being most ready for such a risk-based capitation program. Finally, they call …
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The Source Roundup: December 2020 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 1, 2020
In the final monthly roundup of this tumultuous year, we highlight articles and reports that examine 1) rising and varying healthcare costs and their pronounced impact on Americans during the pandemic; 2) antitrust enforcement challenges of private equity partial ownership and joint ventures; 3) continued success of the Affordable Care Act in both marketplace participation and coverage protections for Americans amidst the pandemic; and 4) value-based pricing for COVID-19 treatment and vaccines. Rising and Varying Healthcare Costs Increase Burden to Americans In the Kaiser Family Foundation report How costly …
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