Healthcare Consolidation
Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: December 2015
Elizabeth Nicholson, Research Fellow January 4, 2016
Happy New Year! As 2015 wrapped up, many interesting and comprehensive healthcare studies, on a variety of topics, yielded results that will likely propel healthcare research, policy, and legislation in the new year. At the heart of these studies were the ACA, healthcare cost and value, cost transparency, and hospital competition. Enjoy! ACA Positive ACA Effects Health Affairs published Affordable Care Act Provision Lowered Out-Of-Pocket Cost And Increased Colonoscopy Rates Among Men In Medicare. The authors, two economists, analyzed colonoscopy rates pre- and post-ACA. The authors found that, post-ACA, annual …
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Antitrust and the Most Common Type of Hospital Combination
Guest Author December 14, 2015
By Guest Blogger: Steven Brodsky Overview The trend toward increasing concentration in hospital markets has spiked in recent years.[1] That trend consists largely of transactions in which each of the combining hospitals is, by virtue of its location, services or reputation, uniquely able to fill a slot health plans need to fill in their provider networks. (For example, there is just one hospital on the east side of town and just one on the west side|health plans need each of them – and they combine to form a multiple-hospital “health …
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Academic Articles & Reports Round-Up: November 2015
Elizabeth Nicholson, Research Fellow December 2, 2015
We hope you all had a great Thanksgiving, full of friends, family, and cheer! November yielded some interesting articles and perspectives on health care markets and consolidation, price transparency, payment reform, prescription drug pricing, more ACA litigation, and health care spending. Enjoy! HEALTH CARE MARKETS/CONSOLIDATION Multiple articles discussed the effects of health care markets and consolidation on various health care entities. Early in November, the Alliance for Health Reform published an article entitled Health Care Consolidation. The article uses numbers and statistics to paint a vivid picture of the increase in …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: September 2015
Elizabeth Nicholson, Research Fellow October 1, 2015
With fall comes sweeping change—and the health care price and competition fields were no exception this year. September’s literature focused most heavily on: 1) health care and insurance competition|2) pharmaceutical drug pricing|and 3) Medicare/Medicare Advantage. Health care and insurance competition took center stage in September. Subcommittees of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives’ Judiciary Committees held multiple hearings on various competition topics. Numerous stakeholder representatives testified at each hearing—including, as you’ve probably already heard, The Source’s very own Executive Editor, Jaime King! Each of the witnesses’ Prepared Statements from …
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Academic Articles and Reports Round-Up: August 2015
Jaime S. King, Executive Editor August 31, 2015
The end of summer is always so bittersweet. As the long days filled with sun, swimming, and a bit more time for family and fun wind down, they are replaced with an undeniable excitement in the air. A promise of new opportunities and endless possibilities seems to accompany the start of the new school year. As you gear up for the fall, the August Roundup has all you need to catch up on your reading on healthcare price and competition. The August literature focused on three key topics: 1) Medicare …
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Most-favored Nations Clauses Come Back to Haunt Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan
Anne Marie Helm, Managing Editor August 27, 2015
The BC/BS multi-district litigation over alleged market allocation and other antitrust violations by the insurer and their Association caught our eye again this week when Defendant Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan filed a motion to preclude certain discovery. The discovery requests BCBSM objects to relate to Aetna’s lawsuit against BCBSM that settled in May after five years in federal court in Michigan. As you recall, Aetna’s antitrust suit against Blue Shield of Michigan that began with this 2011 complaint had been set to go to trail on May 26, 2015, but …
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Academic Articles & Reports Round Up: July 2015
Jaime S. King, Executive Editor July 31, 2015
In July, insurance mergers were all the rage. Anthem-Cigna, Aetna-Humana, the Big 5 becoming the Big 3, you’ve heard all about it. The DOJ and House Judiciary Committee have plans to look into the impact of these potential mergers on health insurance markets, and The Source will be there to keep you posted. In the meantime, check out the following articles and reports that came out in July. If you can’t get enough of the health insurance merger discussion, we’ve got a few things to whet your appetite. Thomas “Tim” …
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Update: Daughters of Charity Gets $250M to Stay Afloat
Anne Marie Helm, Managing Editor July 17, 2015
Update (July 17, 2015): The Daughters of Charity hospitals, which sought purchasers due to financial hardship earlier this year, only to be impeded by the California AG, whose onerous conditions were the death knell to Prime’s proposed acquisition, have secured some help in the form of a $250 million capital injection, according to early reports. Private equity firm BlueMountain Capital Management will provide the investment. See below for our earlier posts on the Daughters situation: Update (March 10, 2015): Today Prime announced that it would not go forward with its proposed …
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Federal Merger Enforcement Timeline
Anne Marie Helm, Managing Editor July 6, 2015
4-28-17: 2nd Circuit affirms District Court Decision to Block Anthem-Cigna Merger On April 28, 2017, a divided panel of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the US District Court’s decision that sided with the Department of Justice (DOJ), which argued that the proposed merger violated Section 7 of the Clayton Antitrust Act. Anthem Inc. announced on May 12, 2017 that it would no longer seek to acquire Cigna Corporation. 2-08-17: District Court Blocks Anthem-Cigna Merger On February 8, 2017, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia blocked the proposed merger between …
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Academic Articles & Reports Round Up: June 2015
Jaime S. King, Executive Editor and Anne Marie Helm June 30, 2015
It’s officially summer! Exams are over|Moms, Dads, and Grads have celebrated their big days|and the Supreme Court is issuing opinions! After you have read King v. Burwell, take a look at what June had to offer in the realm of healthcare price and competition. The Variety Issue of Health Affairs is a great place to catch up on your summer reading. For a brief overview of what’s in the issue related to markets and prices, check out Alan Weil’s introduction Markets, Prices and Incentives. Be sure to check out Eric …
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