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.The Source and Various Stakeholders File Amicus Briefs Urging 9th Circuit to Reverse Jury Verdict of Sidibe v. Sutter Health on Appeal
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 15, 2022
See case page: Sidibe v. Sutter Health After the state action UEBT v. Sutter Health settled prior to trial, the Sidibe class action in federal court continued to shine the spotlight on hospital giant Sutter Health. In March 2022, a jury verdict in the Northern District Court of California cleared Sutter of anticompetitive allegations in this decade-long case. Class plaintiffs swiftly filed an appeal in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn the decision, citing inaccurate jury instructions and exclusion of key evidence that impacted the final outcome of …
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Recapping the 2022 California Legislative Session: What Was and What Wasn’t – Part 2: Promoting Telehealth and Tackling Out-of-Network Costs and Prescription Drug Prices
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 13, 2022
In the previous issue of the California Legislative Beat, we recapped noteworthy bills from year two of California’s 2021-2022 legislative term, specifically legislation that sought to regulate healthcare competition and ensure affordable access (see Recapping the 2022 California Legislative Session – Part 1). In this second part of the two-part series, we turn to bills that aimed to eliminate surprise out-of-network costs, advance telehealth, and rein in prescription drug prices, including ones that were signed into law and some important ones that didn’t make the cut. Surprise Out-of-Network Costs …
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Recapping the 2022 California Legislative Session: What Was and What Wasn’t – Part 1: Regulating Competition and Ensuring Affordable Access to Care
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 7, 2022
Year two of California’s 2021-2022 legislative term came to an end last month as the Governor signed 997 bills into law and vetoed 169. The state considered healthcare bills that were rolled over from 2021 as well as new ones that were introduced in 2022. At the end of the 2021 session, The Source recapped noteworthy bills impacting healthcare price and competition that were enacted (see blog post). In the 2022 session, the legislature again made efforts to promote healthcare access and affordability in California through several legislative themes. In …
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The Source to Speak at October 27 Virtual Event: Taming Health Insurance Costs for Employers and Employees
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 26, 2022
On October 27, The Source Executive Editor Katie Gudiksen will join a panel of experts for the Bipartisan Policy Center in a virtual event on “Taming Health Insurance Costs for Employers and Employees”. The panel is moderated by Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil and will discuss strategies to rein in health care costs and allow employers to provide high-value, cost-effective insurance to their employees. Be sure to register in advance here! October 27 | 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. ET | Virtual Participants: Marilyn Serafini (introduction), Executive Director, Health Program, BPC …
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DOJ’s Challenge of the UnitedHealth and Change Healthcare Merger: What Went Wrong and What Does it Mean?
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 17, 2022
The highly scrutinized merger of UnitedHealth Group and Change Healthcare went through in October 2022 shortly after obtaining court approval despite a legal challenge from federal and state regulators. The deal drew criticisms from industry groups and stakeholders largely amid concerns that it would give UnitedHealth access to sensitive data to gain competitive advantage in the market. The Justice Department-led challenge to the merger was seen as a test of the Biden administration’s intensified antitrust enforcement agenda, but the DOJ failed to convince the court to block the allegedly anticompetitive …
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The Source Joins Panel Discussion on Exploring the Market Competition Ecosystem
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 13, 2022
On October 19, The Source Executive Editor Katie Gudiksen and Distinguished Fellow Tim Greaney will join a panel of experts for the Alliance for Health Policy in a virtual event on “Exploring the Market Competition Ecosystem: Lessons Learned and Next Steps”. The panel will discuss past and current trends in market consolidation ecosystem, explore current legislative and administrative policy levers, and identify lessons learned at the state and federal levels. Be sure to register in advance here! October 19 | 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. ET | Virtual Speakers: Erin Fuse …
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The Source Roundup: October 2022 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 3, 2022
Fall is upon us, and the time is better than ever to sip on a cup of tea (or coffee) and catch up on some of the latest articles and reports! In this month’s Source Roundup, we cover a variety of topics in healthcare price and competition. First, we shine the spotlight on the rise in private equity acquisitions, particularly of physician practices and ambulatory surgical centers, and highlight some of the latest studies that examine the implications of these acquisitions on healthcare cost and spending, utilization, and quality. Second, …
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HCA Healthcare and Mission Health Face Wave of Lawsuits for Anticompetitive Contracting
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 14, 2022
Anticompetitive contracting practices have been under antitrust enforcement scrutiny from both state regulators and private parties in recent years. In California, hospital giant Sutter Health faced several high-profile lawsuits for its alleged anticompetitive contracts. While the state case led by the California attorney general settled earlier this year, the federal class action is on its way to the 9th Circuit appeal. HCA Healthcare, a large health system in North Carolina, appear to be the next health system under litigation fire for similar practices. Three separate actions have been filed by …
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Final Settlement of BCBS Antitrust Class Action Hopes to Increase Competition Among Insurers
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor August 15, 2022
This month, a long-standing private antitrust lawsuit against Blue Shield/Blue Cross came to a conclusion after a decade of litigation. After a favorable court ruling for the class plaintiffs on a key legal issue, the final settlement agreement received approval in federal court and provides both monetary and injunctive relief that is intended to boost competition in the insurance market. Filed in 2012 by employers and individual policyholders with Blue Cross/Blue Shield (BCBS) coverage, the putative class action alleges that BCBS entities conspired to divvy up insurance markets all over …
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The Source Roundup: August 2022 Edition
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor August 1, 2022
Summer may be going by like a breeze, but you can still catch up on some of the latest studies and reports in healthcare market and prices in the Source Roundup as usual. In this issue, we first take a look at the latest trends in hospital and health system consolidation. More than a year since the implementation of the federal hospital transparency rule, researchers continue to study and examine the hospital price data that were disclosed, including characteristics of hospitals that have complied with the rule, trends in prices …
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