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.[Sutter Case Watch] Approval Hearing of Sutter Health Settlement Moves Forward Despite COVID-19
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 10, 2020
See case page: UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health At a July 9 hearing at the Superior Court of San Francisco, Judge Anne-Christine Massullo denied Sutter Health’s motion to delay the approval hearing of the preliminary settlement agreement due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is an encouraging ruling as there was much speculation and concern that Sutter’s request is a thinly veiled attempt to walk back the historic settlement reached last December amidst the chaos of COVID-19. In a California Healthline quote last month, The Source Executive Editor …
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Final DOJ and FTC Vertical Merger Review Guidelines Fail to Impress
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 9, 2020
After much anticipation and a round of public comments on the draft guidelines released in January, the Department of Justice (DOJ), along with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), officially issued the final Vertical Merger Review Guidelines, replacing the Non-Horizontal Merger Guidelines originally issued in 1984. The updated guidelines govern how federal antitrust agencies evaluate vertical, as well as other non-horizontal mergers. The guidelines outline three main sources of evidence for potential adverse competitive effects from vertical mergers: 1) Foreclosure and Raising Rivals’ Costs, 2) Access to Competitively Sensitive Information, and …
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[In the Press] Source Executive Editor Quoted in California Healthline Regarding Sutter Settlement
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 17, 2020
Case page: UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health Executive Editor Jaime King was quoted in the 6/17/2020 California Healthline article Citing COVID, Sutter Pushes To Revisit Landmark Antitrust Settlement: In its filing, Sutter does not specifically object to the $575 million settlement amount. But Jaime King, an associate dean at UC Hastings College of the Law who has followed the case, said the request for a delay could be a tactical strategy to support such a move. “The longer they can delay, the more they can show they have …
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Podcast from Harvard Professor Anna Sinaiko Provides Insights on Healthcare Consumerism
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 16, 2020
Tune in to the latest podcast with Anna Sinaiko, PhD, Assistant Professor at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, who discusses with Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) Executive Director Suzanne Delbanco past price and quality transparency efforts and benefit design programs. CPR, in partnership with The Source, recently released a Report Card on State Transparency Laws that assesses state efforts to help consumers access health care price information to facilitate consumer shopping (see Suzanne Delbanco’s op-ed in Governing). This latest podcast from CPR provides insights on patient preferences in …
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Just Published: Research Report on Preventing Anticompetitive Healthcare Consolidation
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 15, 2020
Recent evidence demonstrates that provider and insurer markets in the United States have been highly concentrated for years and have led to increased healthcare prices and insurance premiums without a commensurate increase in quality. The coronavirus pandemic is placing additional financial strain on many physician practices and small, rural hospitals, elevating the risk of unchecked consolidation. State governments can play a critical role in improving oversight of anticompetitive mergers and other affiliations, especially in this time. With support from Arnold Ventures and in collaboration with the Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health …
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[Sutter Case Watch] The Landmark Sutter Health Antitrust Case was Settled. Will COVID-19 Uproot it Like it Did Everything Else?
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 11, 2020
See case page: UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health When Sutter Health reached a preliminary settlement agreement with California Attorney General Xavier Becerra restricting its anticompetitive practices, antitrust experts breathed a collective sigh of relief on clinching a favorable outcome. Then came COVID-19. As with all other aspects of business and life, the pandemic has turned existing order upside down. Will it throw a wrench in the all but finalized case that would’ve served as strong guidance to other health systems in the country? The terms of the …
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[In the Press] Source Executive Editor Interview Quoted in Los Angeles Times Regarding SB 977
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor June 8, 2020
The Source Executive Editor Jaime King was recently quoted in the Los Angeles Times article “California seeks more power to fight healthcare mergers,” regarding SB 977, a bill that would grant significantly more merger review power to the Attorney General in California: “The best way to prevent problems from occurring in a merger is just to prevent the merger altogether,” said Jaime King, associate dean at UC Hastings College of the Law in San Francisco. “It’s really hard to unwind a merger after you’ve already done it.” SB 977 incorporated …
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Affordable Care Act Litigation – May 2020 Updates
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 18, 2020
The coronavirus pandemic has highlighted the urgent need for healthcare coverage for all Americans, once again putting the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the national spotlight. The law, however, has long been immersed in various types of litigation, involving both state governments and private insurers, a few of which have reached the Supreme Court after many years in the making. This month, we take a look at the latest Supreme Court action in two recent lawsuits involving the ever-controversial law and its legacy. Insurers Win $12 Billion Lawsuit for …
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The Source Launches the “COVID-19 Crisis” Key Issue Page
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 11, 2020
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the nation, it has underscored and brought national attention to many of the issues in the U.S. healthcare system and the pressing needs for policy reform. On the new “COVID-19 Crisis” key issue page, The Source looks at the implications of the pandemic as it pertains to healthcare markets, costs, and delivery, as well as federal and state responses to address them. This new page will compile the latest curated news and academic articles relating to healthcare issues that arise from the COVID-19 …
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[Publication] Catalyst for Payment Reform and The Source Release 2020 Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 5, 2020
[Press Release] BERKELEY, CA – May 5, 2020 – Around 40% of Americans could not cover an unexpected $400 expense in 2018, which is less than one-third of the average health insurance deductible for an individual that year. Health care costs and deductibles have since continued to rise, along with the need for American consumers to have access to price information. Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) looked for laws in each state that ensure such transparency and today, the grades are in. CPR developed the 2020 Report Card on State …
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