Competition
California Attorney General Conditionally Approves Merger of Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher December 4, 2018
On November 21, 2018, the California Attorney General conditionally approved the Dignity Health and Catholic Health Initiatives (CHI) merger. The new merger would result in a new $28.4 billion organization called CommonSpirit Health.[1] CommonSpirit will operate 139 hospitals and 700 care sites nationwide, including 30 hospitals in California.[2] According to the California Attorney General’s press release, CommonSpirit Health must maintain emergency services and women’s healthcare services for ten years, and the AG has the right to review the impact of any changes to these services. CommonSpirit Health must also create …
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New York Times Calls Attention to Impact of Hospital Mergers on Healthcare Prices
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor November 14, 2018
A New York Times article came out today highlighting how hospital mergers result in higher healthcare prices to patients, based on research and analysis conducted by UC Berkeley’s Nicholas C. Petris Center. While hospitals claim that consolidation would save consumers money, the opposite is true due to reduced competition resulting from the consolidation. In addition to continued consolidation of hospitals across the country, the article suggests there is a growing trend of large hospital systems buying up doctors’ groups and medical practices. According to Richard Scheffler, Director of the Petris …
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Two Takeaways from Health Affairs’ “Improving Care for Californians” Forum
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher October 26, 2018
On October 15, 2018, Health Affairs hosted a forum in Sacramento called “Improving Care for Californians.” Two unifying themes emerged from the three panels. First, there is a growing tension between integration and consolidation in health care. Some panelists presented data that demonstrated that integrated health delivery networks often provide better and more integrated care, but that when healthcare delivery markets become highly concentrated, prices tend to increase. Second, the panelists discussed substantial improvements in healthcare in California, but all agreed that substantial work remains to be done to improve …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – October 2018
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor October 15, 2018
It’s been an eventful month for healthcare litigation and enforcement action. Following coverage in last month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we revisit and follow up with significant new developments in SB 17 litigation and the CVS-Aetna and Cigna-Express Scripts mergers. Additionally, we take a peek at another major healthcare merger on the horizon. PhRMA Refiles Lawsuit Challenging California’s SB 17 Last month on The Source blog, we reviewed the California federal court’s dismissal of PhRMA’s legal challenge against SB 17 on procedural grounds and noted that plaintiff will likely …
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The Source Roundup: October 2018 Edition
Source Fellow October 1, 2018
By: Jake Winton, Student Fellow Welcome to October! We hope you are getting your costumes picked out and finding those deals to stock up on trick-or-treat candy. In this edition of The Source Roundup, we review five academic articles and reports from September that stood out to us. This month we look at (1) price inflation in the California fully-insured large group market, (2) forward motion in drug price transparency laws, (3) the future of pharmaceutical reference pricing in the U.S., (4) lessons learned from California’s competitive healthcare model, and (5) …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – September 2018
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor September 17, 2018
In this month’s Litigation and Enforcement Highlights, we recap two small but meaningful wins in courts for state legislation aimed at controlling rising drug prices. We also take a peek at the newest developments of two potential mega mergers and the legal challenge against the Affordable Care Act, both of which could change the landscape of the healthcare industry. Judge Boots Challenge Against California’s Transparency Law on Technicality In the latest development of the legal challenge against California’s recently passed SB 17, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern …
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The Source Roundup: September 2018 Edition
Tiffany Wang, Student Fellow September 4, 2018
Happy September! We hope you’ve enjoyed the Labor Day weekend and ready for the fall! In this edition of The Source Roundup, we cover five academic articles and reports from July and August. This month we look at (1) monopoly in the ACA marketplace; (2) the recent Ohio v. American Express U.S. Supreme Court decision; and a trio of articles that examine accountable care organizations in terms of (3) ACO growth in 2018; (4) ACO effectiveness in reducing health care costs; and (5) the proposed changes to ACOs in the …
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Bills in the Other House: How 2018 California Healthcare Bills Have Evolved
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher August 22, 2018
The last two editions of The Source’s California Legislative Beat introduced some possibly transformative healthcare bills. However, many of those bills had passed only one house of the legislature at the time of writing. For a bill to become law, it must first be approved by both houses. Since passing the Assembly, some of those bills have gone through additional committees and are steadily progressing to a vote by the Senate. When a bill proceeds to the other house, it can (and have been known to) radically change. A bill …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – August 2018
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor August 15, 2018
This month we highlight new developments in several high profile antitrust enforcement cases and pharmaceutical legal actions, including 1) new challenges to the proposed Beth Israel-Lahey merger, 2) expanded probe into generic drugs price-fixing scheme, 3) conclusion to Allergan’s patent saga, and 4) the future of Maryland’s price gouging law. Massachusetts Health System Merger Hits Roadblock, with Rocky Road Ahead We have our eye on the proposed merger of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health, which has been under regulatory review since December 2017. As we covered …
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Litigation and Enforcement Highlights – July 2018
Amy Y. Gu, Managing Editor July 16, 2018
June has been a busy month in terms of healthcare litigation and enforcement action. In this issue, we highlight 1) implications of the AT&T-Time Warner merger for vertical mergers in healthcare, 2) FTC’s big win in a pharmaceutical pay-for-delay case, and 3) constitutional challenges against state drug pricing laws. AT&T-Time Warner Merger Encourages Healthcare Vertical Mergers but May Mean Little Last month, a federal court approved AT&T and Time Warner’s $85 billion merger without condition, setting off a wave of speculation on how the decision could impact pending healthcare …
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