A new research article examining the impact of “cross-market” hospital mergers on prices and quality published in Health Services Research has been co-authored by The Source’s own Jaime King, Katherine Gudiksen, Alexandra Montague, and Thomas Greaney, along with our long-time collaborators, Daniel Arnold, Brent Fulton, and Richard Scheffler, from The Petris Center at UC Berkeley. The study is the first to measure the impact of cross-market hospital acquisitions on quality and the first to identify price effects from multiple cross-market acquisitions (i.e. serial acquisitions).  The study used commercial claims data […]

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 […]

In a new piece published in Health Affairs Forefront titled “How Will the New Draft Merger Guidelines Impact Health Care Markets?”, The Source’s Amy Gu, Katherine Gudiksen, and Jaime King examine new draft Merger Guidelines released by the Federal Trade Commissions and Department of Justice building on a previous executive order intended to strengthen competition and enhance antitrust enforcement. The authors analyze the new guidelines, as well as the harms caused by health care consolidation.  The piece concludes that the draft merger guidelines break new ground by addressing the increasingly […]

In a new research paper published in Frontiers in Public Health Volume 11, The Source’s Alex Montague, Robin Davison, Katie Gudiksen, and Jaime King examine the use of conditional approvals by state officials on hospital and health system mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions. While federal antitrust enforcers play an important role in overseeing large mergers, acquisitions, and other consolidating transactions of major healthcare providers, state oversight over healthcare markets is essential to slow consolidation more broadly and address market failures across the country. One method states have used to address […]

As private equity (PE) investment in healthcare draws scrutiny from advocates and regulators, one lawsuit has been in the spotlight as a potentially important precedent-setter, particularly regarding its corporate practice of medicine (CPOM) claims: American Academy of Emergency Medicine Physician Group (AAEM-PG) v. Envision Healthcare. The Independent Emergency Physicians Consortium called this case a “momentous event” that could signal an inflection point in the increasing corporatization of medicine.[1] However, proceedings have been on pause since May 2023, when the defendant filed for bankruptcy, and it is unclear if and when […]

See case page: Sidibe v. Sutter Health   As all eyes were fixated on UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health (UEBT), the landmark state antitrust lawsuit that the California attorney general brought against Sutter Health, another long-standing litigation against Sutter in federal court for similar claims has largely gone under the radar. With the final judgment in the state action set to be approved in state court this July, we turn our attention to Sidibe v. Sutter Health, the other case to watch in the ongoing antitrust challenge against […]

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue of health care affordability in the United States. According to a Pew Research Center study, since the pandemic began, 25% of adults have had trouble paying bills, with 11% having particular difficulty in affording medical care.  Lower income Americans face an even more dire situation, with 46% having had trouble paying bills and 19% unable to afford medical care.  Already stretched thin by the pandemic, the last thing Americans across the country need is to open their mailboxes to find an unexpected […]

Editor’s Note: An abbreviated summary of this case appears in the research report “Preventing Anticompetitive Contracting Practices in Healthcare Markets”, which provides a detailed analysis of anti-tiering/anti-steering clauses, including economic justification and procompetitive use and states that have restricted its use in healthcare contracts.   The antitrust case against Sutter Health in California has drawn the attention of state regulators and policymakers across the country, spawning legislative reform efforts to curb dominant hospitals’ market power. Prior to this, an enforcement action against Atrium Health, a large health system on the […]

The COVID-19 pandemic necessitated the rapid expansion of telehealth services.  This has led the federal government and many states to expand insurance coverage for telehealth services through emergency waivers of certain requirements.  Implemented ideally, widespread telehealth use could lower the overall cost of health care in commercial markets by lowering per-patient and per-visit costs for specialty and primary care providers, while increasing patient satisfaction and quality of care.  However, if done poorly, telehealth expansion could increase healthcare costs by providing easy access to care that is unlikely to improve health […]

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 […]