As unrelenting consolidation in healthcare provider and insurer markets continues, policymakers need additional options to protect the public from escalating healthcare prices and low-quality care. High healthcare prices result from multiple factors, including third-party payers dampening consumers’ price sensitivity, patients and providers demanding expensive healthcare technologies, and healthcare markets consolidating. While these factors are visible, dominant insurers and healthcare providers can also use terms in their insurer-provider contracts in anticompetitive ways that thwart competition and lead to higher prices or lower quality but remain hidden from public view. With support …

The Source is launching a new series of “Spotlight on State” summaries to highlight notable legislation and initiatives in health policy and reform of all 50 states. Utilizing the SLIHCQ Database launched in partnership with Catalyst for Payment Reform, our goal is to update the overview summaries of each of the individual state pages on The Source, along with an exciting new feature of an overview infographic chart that provides an at-a-glance summary of existing and proposed legislation in each of the key issue topics for each state. The key …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

[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 …

In a report just published by the California Health Care Foundation (CHCF), The Source’s Sammy Chang, Tim Greaney, Katie Gudiksen, and Jaime King examine the California Attorney General’s merger review authority and compare it to those of other state AGs. As state antitrust enforcement can be used as an alternative to federal enforcement, the team suggests expansion of the AG’s oversight of health care mergers to address the escalating scope and impact of health care industry consolidation. Download the report “Examining the Authority of California’s Attorney General in Health Care …

“The Proposed Vertical Merger Guidelines And Health Care: Little Guidance And Dubious Economics” Authors: Thomas L. Greaney and Richard M. Scheffler