October 12 marked the deadline for the California Governor to sign or veto legislation passed during the 2025 California legislative session, so we now know the fate of this year’s healthcare legislation.  Much of the session’s efforts were focused on ensuring support of Californians in the face of massive federal cuts to social programs, Los Angeles wildfires, a potential budget deficit of over $12 billion, and the state’s highly publicized push to get Proposition 50 passed, which will redraw Congressional district maps.  Lawmakers introduced an ambitious slate of bills aimed […]

Health Care Consolidation and System Reform Health Care Consolidation: Published Estimates of the Extent and Effects of Physician Consolidation Government Accountability Office In 2023, Congress directed the Government Accountability Office to study the extent of healthcare consolidation, the potential role of private equity, and the effects on healthcare quality, access, spending, and costs. The GAO reviewed peer-reviewed empirical studies and reports from January 2021 through July 2025, and interviewed stakeholders, including physicians, hospitals, insurers, private equity firms, retail companies, and employees. The article cited available data sources, including PECOS, insurer […]

In 2025, the Oregon Health Authority (“OHA”) invited the public to weigh in on its Health Care Market Oversight (“HCMO”) Program.  The Oregon Health Policy Board is seeking comments on the program’s guiding principles and framework.  This move follows growing criticism and scrutiny of the program, as well as a lawsuit in which a federal appeals court upheld the program’s authority.  These public comment opportunities offer a rare chance for residents, providers, and stakeholders to directly influence how healthcare mergers, acquisitions, and affiliations are reviewed, or potentially restricted, by the […]

August and September 2025 were active months in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s case challenging the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)’s new rules under the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act.  The FTC finalized changes to the HSR pre-merger notification rules in October 2024, and the Chamber filed suit in January 2025. In August and September, the Chamber moved for summary judgment, the FTC filed a brief in opposition, and most recently, the Chamber filed a brief in support of its summary judgment motion. History of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act Congress passed the original Hart-Scott-Rodino […]

On August 13, 2025, President Donald Trump issued an executive order revoking Executive Order 14036 (Promoting Competition in the American Economy) issued by President Joe Biden on July 9, 2021.  Biden’s executive order was remarkably lengthy and detailed, addressing many areas with significant implications for healthcare markets and competition.  Revoking the order represents a new direction in the Federal Government’s competition priorities. Biden’s Order on Promoting Competition Biden’s 2021 order was unusual in its scope and size, signaling an intention to reinvigorate antitrust enforcement across U.S. industries. The order noted […]

In 2022, the California legislature passed Assembly Concurrent Resolution No. 95, mandating the California Law Revision Commission (CLRC) study specific topics relating to antitrust law and its enforcement.  The bill made legislative findings that included “[t]he idea that America has a monopoly problem is now beyond dispute”, “California should be uniquely sensitive to the threat of market concentration”, and “[n]o California statute deals expressly with monopolization or attempted monopolization by one giant company”.  The Resolution directed the CLRC to study three topics: (1) Whether the law should be revised to […]

Healthcare Consolidation Defining Health Care “Corporatization” (The New England Journal of Medicine) Erin C. Fuse Brown In this brief article, Fuse Brown draws on the prescient work of Paul Starr who, in his 1982 book the Social Transformation of American Medicine, foretold the coming of large healthcare conglomerates. Through consolidation, concentration, and increased focus on profits over patients, the author asserts that we have reached the “Gilded Age” of medicine, replete with dissatisfaction for all – producers, providers, and consumers. While Starr’s 40-year-old prediction has proven to be largely accurate, Fuse […]

On July 3, 2025, a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld an Oregon state law that allows the state to review, approve or deny proposed health care mergers, affirming a lower court ruling from May of last year. History of the Case The Oregon Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (OAHHS – a trade association representing Oregon hospitals and health systems) originally filed suit in Federal District Court October 2022 challenging the constitutionality of an Oregon law enacted in 2021, that required health care entities […]

Healthcare Cost Control State Health Care Cost Commissions: Their Priorities and How States’ Political Leanings, Commercial Hospital Prices, and Medicaid Spending Predict Their Establishment (The Milbank Quarterly) Brent D. Fulton, Daniel R. Arnold, Jordan M. Wolf, Richard M. Scheffler As healthcare costs continue to rise, states play an increasingly important role in addressing affordability and cost containment. In this Milbank Quarterly article, researchers examine the political and economic measures in the 17 states that have created Health Care Cost Commissions (HCCCs).  HCCCs are independent administrative bodies usually housed in the […]

Rural Healthcare Access Rural Hospital Closures Led to Increased Prices at Nearby ‘Surviving’ Hospitals, 2012-22 (Health Affairs) Caitlin Carrol, Jessica Chang Research on how consolidation affects healthcare pricing largely centers on mergers rather than closures. Hospital closures, especially those in rural areas, reallocate patient populations to nearby ‘surviving’ hospitals posing distinct effects on the remaining healthcare market. In theory, reallocation of a patient population can increase production efficiencies and lower costs at the remaining hospital, resulting in savings that could be passed to consumers in the form of lower prices. […]