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.Spotlight on State: Virginia
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor May 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 Virginia page. Virginia is an active state in promoting price transparency in health care. Virginia operates an All-Payer Claims Database and provides other datasets online relating to cost and quality, including the average charge data for 25 of the most frequently reported health care services. All medical facilities and health maintenance organizations are required to …
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Spotlight on State: West Virginia
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 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 West Virginia page. West Virginia has made progress in healthcare price transparency on several fronts, including implementing an all-payer claims database, passing legislation easing access to medical records, and creating annual financial disclosure requirements for facilities in order to determine the reasonableness of healthcare costs among providers. The state earns a high grade …
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United Health Care Accused of Using Market Power for Financial Gain, Impeding Provider Competition in Texas and Colorado
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 15, 2021
This month in Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we dive into a pair of healthcare antitrust lawsuits that is making the headlines. In late March, a group of doctors sued United Healthcare Insurance in Colorado and Texas in state courts, alleging the insurance giant violated state antitrust laws. Plaintiffs U.S. Anesthesia Partners (USAP) is a physician practice group made of anesthesiologists who practice in nine states. In the complaints, they claimed that United Healthcare used its market power to “squeeze” the group out of its insurance network and the marketplace for …
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The Source Contributes to Model State Legislation to Prohibit Anticompetitive Healthcare Contracts
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 13, 2021
In connection with the Source’s research and findings on anticompetitive contract terms, Senior Health Policy Researcher Katie Gudiksen co-authored the NASHP model legislation for states to rein in the use of these contract terms, including all-or-nothing, most-favored nation, anti-steering/anti-tiering, and gag clauses. A companion report, A Tool for States to Address Health Care Consolidation: Prohibiting Anticompetitive Health Plan Contracts, further details the contract terms and how the model act can give states essential tools to create a more level playing field and help rein in rising health care costs. For …
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The Source Commissioned for Policy Analysis of Rhode Island Health System Consolidation
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 12, 2021
As an extension of the Source’s research and work on provider market consolidation, the Milbank Memorial Fund commissioned the Source team to conduct an in-depth policy analysis of health system consolidation in Rhode Island and provide legal and regulatory options for Rhode Island state officials to address the impacts of consolidation. Executive Director Jaime King, Senior Health Policy Researchers Robert Murray and Katie Gudiksen, and Source Advisory Board Member Bob Berenson of the Urban Institute created a detailed presentation that first provides an overview of Rhode Island’s provider markets and …
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Spotlight on State: New Hampshire
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 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 New Hampshire page. The state of New Hampshire is a trailblazer that is highly active in considering innovative cost containment solutions and expanding price transparency initiatives. New Hampshire created one of the nation’s first all-payer claims databases (“APCD”) in 2003 to collect and disseminate healthcare price information, leading the way for many other …
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Spotlight on State: North Dakota
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor April 8, 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 North Dakota page. North Dakota is one of the few states that bans most-favored nation clauses in provider contracts. It is also one of the even fewer states that prohibits most noncompete agreements, by making them generally unenforceable. Specifically, state law provides that a contract by which anyone is restrained from exercising a …
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Spotlight on State: South Dakota
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 25, 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 Dakota page. South Dakota has been active in regulating prescription drug pricing and transparency. The state enacted a law to prohibit pharmacy benefit managers from prohibiting or penalizing a pharmacist for providing cost-sharing information on the amount a covered individual may pay for a particular prescription drug. The legislature also passed legislation …
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Healthcare Merger Challenges: Q1 2021 Update
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 12, 2021
In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we provide the latest updates on several proposed provider mergers, many of which were fueled by the continued pandemic. With the increased consolidation came increased antitrust scrutiny. So far this year, we’ve seen a mixed bag of wins and losses for federal and state enforcement agencies that seek to block the mergers. FTC Concedes in Failed Challenge of Jefferson-Albert Einstein Merger In its first major loss in a healthcare merger challenge in recent years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) officially dropped its …
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The Petris Center Highlights Research Collaborations with The Source
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor March 11, 2021
The Nicholas C. Petris Center on Health Care Markets and Consumer Welfare, in its annual newsletter published this month, highlights many of the research collaborations with The Source in 2020 and 2021. Among the work are two studies on market consolidation and competition, one of which examines the impact of state merger review and the use of anticompetitive contract clauses on healthcare prices, quality and premiums (both research findings are published on The Source). Another ongoing project seeks to determine the size and scope of cross-market hospital and physician organization …
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