Patients File Class Action Suit Claiming Healthcare Merger Resulted in Unfair High Prices
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor March 15, 2024
The preponderance of research evidence demonstrates that a lack of meaningful healthcare market competition is bad for consumers – resulting in higher prices, and insurance premiums, without a commensurate increase in quality of care. New merger guidelines issued in 2023 by the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice are just one indication that the Federal government is more closely examining proposed health system mergers. Increased regulatory scrutiny, among other factors, appears to be causing a slow-down in healthcare merger activity. In addition to merger challenges by state and federal …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Roundup: March 2024 Edition
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow March 1, 2024
Health Policy Trends The 2024 CHCF California Health Policy Survey (California Health Care Foundation) Jen Joynt, Rebecca Catterson, Emily Alverez, Larry Bye, Vicki Pineau, and Lin Liu The California Health Care Foundation released results from its fifth annual California Health Policy survey. Researchers from the California Health Care Foundation and NORC at the University of Chicago surveyed a representative sample to assess Californian’s views and experiences on a myriad of health care topics. This year’s survey yielded a number of key findings. Among them, researchers found that there is a …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Team Examines Changes to the Final 2023 Merger Guidelines
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor February 26, 2024
For Health Affairs Forefront, the Source’s Katherine Gudiksen and Jaime King have analyzed changes from the draft version to the final 2023 Merger Guidelines released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ). In a previous Health Affairs Forefront piece, Source staff examined the draft guidelines. This new post examines key elements of the new guidelines, concluding that while the final version better aligns the Guidelines with the underlying antitrust laws and caselaw, the Guidelines create more grey area for companies to demonstrate that mergers do not …
Continue Reading Download PDF
FTC Files Suit to Block Sale of North Carolina Hospitals to Novant
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor February 22, 2024
On January 25th, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that it had authorized a suit to block Novant Health’s proposed acquisition of two hospitals owned by Community Health Systems (CHS) in North Carolina. Nearly a year ago, in February of 2023, Novant Health and Community Health Systems (CHS) signed an Asset Purchase Agreement for Novant to pay $320 million to acquire two North Carolina hospitals from CHS. Novant is currently one of the largest hospital systems in the southeastern United States, and already owns a local hospital that serves …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Class Action Antitrust Suit Claims University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Used Monopsony Market Power to Suppress Healthcare Workforce Conditions
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor February 15, 2024
On January 18, 2024, Victoria Ross, a former University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) nurse, filed an antitrust class action suit in the US District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania against UPMC. The suit claims UPMC used its “monopsony power to prevent workers from exiting or improving their working conditions, to suppress workers’ wages and benefits, and to drastically increase their workloads, through a draconian system of mobility restrictions and widespread labor law violations that lock employees into sub-competitive pay and working conditions.” Parties to the Suit According …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Roundup: February 2024 Edition
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow February 1, 2024
Healthcare System Mergers and Investment Models for Enhanced Health Care Market Oversight – State Attorneys General, Health Departments, and Independent Oversight Entities (Milbank Memorial Fund) Erin C. Fuse Brown, Katherine L. Gudiksen The Source’s own Katherine L. Gudiksen co-authored this report for the Milbank Memorial Fund with Eric C. Fuse Brown, which assesses the tools state policy makers are using to address harmful health care market consolidation. Specifically, the report focuses on how states have broadened review authority by expanding the existing authority of the Attorney General (or other state …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source’s Katherine L. Gudiksen co-authors report on health care market oversight
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor January 29, 2024
The Milbank Memorial Fund has published a report titled “Models for Enhanced Health Care Market Oversight — State Attorneys General, Health Departments, and Independent Oversight Entities” authored by Erin C. Fuse Brown and The Source’s own Katherine L. Gudiksen. The report looks at tools state policymakers are using to address harmful health care market consolidation, focusing on how states have expanded the review authority of the Attorney General (or other state agencies), and have given authority to review transactions to additional oversight entities. The authors reviewed applicable state statutes and …
Continue Reading Download PDF
Governor Newsom’s Healthcare Budget Proposal for 2024-25
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow January 22, 2024
On January 10, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom released his proposed California state budget for 2024-2025. In a year where the state was expected to struggle financially, the Legislative Analyst’s Office had originally predicted that the budget deficit could extend upwards of $68 billion due to 2023’s seven month tax filing extension, steep stock market declines, and economic dampening from the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes. However, to the surprise of many, the released budget projected a significantly smaller budgetary shortfall at $38 billon. The Governor announced plans to close this …
Continue Reading Download PDF
North Carolina Attorney General Files Suit Against HCA Subsequent to 2018 Hospital Purchase
Bruce Allain, Managing Editor January 16, 2024
On December 14, 2023, the North Carolina Attorney General (AG) filed suit against HCA Healthcare, Inc. alleging that HCA violated the Asset Purchase Agreement (APA) it signed when it acquired Mission Health System. HCA is the largest for-profit hospital chain in the United States and in 2018, it acquired Mission Health System, which serves western North Carolina. At the time of the merger, the North Carolina AG required the signing of an APA that included assurances that HCA was committed to continuing certain critical services (including emergency, trauma care, and …
Continue Reading Download PDF
The Source Roundup: January 2024 Edition
Dilani Logan, Student Fellow January 2, 2024
Healthcare Costs and Spending Arriving at a Fair Price in the Medicare Drug Price Negotiation Program: Considerations from Other Countries (Health Affairs Forefront) John K. Lin, James I. Barnes, Jalpa A. Doshi, Salah Ghabri, Peter Kolominksy-Rabas, Brian O’Rourke The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are slated to begin negotiating drug prices for a subset of Medicare drugs soon, due to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022. Recognizing the subjectivity involved in determining fair drug prices, this article highlights the authors’ perspectives on CMS’ current strategic shortcomings and analyzes …
Continue Reading Download PDF