Antitrust Enforcement
Healthcare Consolidation Q4 2022: Cross-Market Mergers Continue Apace
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 15, 2022
2022 has been an active year in healthcare consolidation as well as for merger challenges and enforcement. As we approach the year end, healthcare deals continued as many entities seek to close the transactions before the new year. Increasingly, as seen in the 4th quarter, healthcare deals are shifting to cross-market transactions, making review and enforcement efforts more challenging. In case you missed it, this final Litigation and Enforcement Highlights of the year will help you catch up on some of the cross-market deals in Q4 2022 that caught our …
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Office of Health Care Affordability: California’s Healthcare Cost Commission Gears Up for Implementation
Rachel Ng, Student Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor December 14, 2022
In the 2022 session, California enacted legislation to create the state’s healthcare cost commission, the Office of Healthcare Affordability (OHCA). As part of the Department of Health Care Access and Information (HCAI), OHCA is authorized to analyze the health care market for cost trends and drivers of spending and set and enforce cost-growth benchmarks for the state. It also has the authority to review and assess the impact of mergers, acquisitions, affiliations, and other healthcare transactions on price and competition. As OHCA prepares for its launch, the California Health Care Foundation …
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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 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 Roundup: November 2022 Edition
Rachel Ng, Student Fellow and Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 1, 2022
In this month’s Roundup, we highlight some noteworthy articles and reports that discuss 1) state options for provider rate regulation and their potential pitfalls such as regulatory failure and regulatory capture; 2) consolidation trends in the hospital market and pharmaceutical industry; 3) price transparency efforts including compliance with the hospital and insurer transparency rules and the state-federal partnership to implement the No Surprises Act; and 4) drivers of national health spending. Provider Rate Regulation With the rapid consolidation of health care providers and highly concentrated insurance markets, consumer bargaining …
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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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The Source Roundup: September 2022 Edition
Enne Mae Guerrero, Graduate Research Fellow September 1, 2022
In this month’s Source Roundup, we start out with the latest articles and reports that examine consolidation and lack of competition in the healthcare markets, specifically 1) the impact of certificate of public advantage legislation and 2) the impact of dialysis consolidation on Medicare Advantage beneficiaries. We also highlight a few articles discussing healthcare prices and costs, including 3) the impact of inflation on the healthcare sector, 4) the divergence in cost growth between Medicare and the private insurance sector, and 5) factors that cause health spending to rise in …
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