Competition
Drug Money Part 4 – The Return of the CREATES Act: Fourth Time’s a Charm?
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher October 25, 2017
The Creating and Restoring Equal Access to Equivalent Samples Act (or CREATES Act) is the latest attempt by Congress to intervene to prevent anticompetitive behavior in the pharmaceutical industry. The intention of the CREATES Act is “to promote competition in the market for drugs and biological products by facilitating the timely entry of lower-cost generic and biosimilar versions of those drugs and biological products.”[1] A bipartisan group of Senators introduced the most recent version of the CREATES Act into the current session of Congress on April 27, 2017, and Sen. …
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Interesting California Bills that Did Not End Up on the Governor’s Desk This Year
Sammy Chang, Health Policy Researcher October 11, 2017
The California legislature has finished up the first year of a two-year legislative cycle. While enrolled bills await the Governor’s signature, today’s article will discuss three bills that are still pending in the legislature and why they should pass. These bills include granting a state agency the authority to approve all mergers and acquisitions involving a health care plan (AB 595), developing a commission to examine health care access and affordability (AB 1643), and preventing hospitals from imposing anti-competitive contract provisions (SB 538). AB 595 (Wood): If this bill passed, …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: September 2017
Source Fellow September 27, 2017
By: Katie Beyer, Student Fellow Happy October! In this Roundup of articles from the past month, we cover four articles from September. The topics this month include 1) actual R&D costs for single cancer pharmaceuticals|2) policy solutions beyond antitrust to promote competition and regulate consolidation|3) reasons behind market exclusivity for prescription drugs|and 4) state policy recommendations curbing healthcare consolidation efforts. Actual R&D Costs for Single Cancer Pharmaceuticals A 2017 Tufts University Center for Study of Drug Development and Research estimated the total cost of research and development (R&D) spending is $2.7 …
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Washington State AG files suit against Franciscan Health System
Katie Gudiksen, Senior Health Policy Researcher September 12, 2017
The Washington State AG filed suit to thwart and unwind Franciscan Health Systems (FHS) most recent expansion attempts alleging violation of both state and federal antitrust laws. In a rarely seen antitrust enforcement action, the Washington AG’s office is asking the court to unwind FHS’ 2016 acquisition of WestSound Orthopaedics for violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act and the Washington Consumer Protection Act and several affiliation agreements from 2016 between The Doctors Clinic and FHS for violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act and the Washington Consumer …
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Class Certification Granted in UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health
Anna Zaret, Managing Editor August 22, 2017
See UFCW & Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health case page. We have previously blogged about a key California case brought by self-funded payers against Sutter Health, the dominant health care provider in Northern California, UFCW &|Employers Benefit Trust v. Sutter Health. Last week, the plaintiffs overcame a major hurdle in litigation when the court granted class certification. To remind you, UEBT filed this class action on behalf of itself and other self-funded payers. The defendants in the case are Sutter and the group referred to as “Network Vendors,” which are the …
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Seventh Circuit Refuses to Revive a $300 Million Antitrust Lawsuit Against St. Francis Medical Center
Source Fellow July 25, 2017
By: Katie Beyer, Student Fellow Saint Francis Medical Center is the largest medical provider in the Peoria area, providing 616 hospital beds and a wide variety of inpatient services. Methodist Medical Center is about half the size, providing only 330 hospital beds. Saint Francis has exclusive contracts with four insurance companies – Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois, Health Alliance, and Humana – that prohibit the insurers from forming contracts with Saint Francis’ competitors. In 2013 Methodist sued Saint Francis, alleging that these exclusive contracts violate the Sherman Act …
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The Source Executive Editor Jaime King on ‘The Week in Health Law’ Podcast
Anna Zaret, Managing Editor and Katie Beyer June 22, 2017
The most recent episode of The Week in Health Law podcast features The Source’s own Professor Jaime King! The episode, titled “Competition, Coordination, and Complexity,” covers price transparency issues, provider competition and consolidation, and ERISA preemption. In the discussion, Professor King explains how greater price transparency will help promote competition in some ways, but it will not solve all problems. The first model of price transparency directed at consumer rates only influences consumers who purchase “shop-able services” (services that patients assume are substitutable for one another, such as lab tests). Professor …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: May 2017
Anna Zaret, Managing Editor May 31, 2017
Summer is finally here! In this Roundup of articles from the past month, we cover four articles published in May. The topics this month include 1) the effect of market concentration on hospital prices|2) links between cost and quality|3) pharmaceutical market competition|and 4) all-payer rate setting. We hope you enjoy your monthly reading list! The Effect of Market Concentration on Hospital Prices Seidu Dauda recently published the article Hospital and Health Insurance Markets Concentration and Inpatient Hospital Transaction Prices in the U.S. Health Care Market (Health Services Research).This research …
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Update: D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals Upholds Decision Blocking Anthem-Cigna Merger
Anna Zaret, Managing Editor May 10, 2017
On April 28, the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals issued its decision upholding an order blocking the proposed merger of health insurers Anthem and Cigna. In the 2-1 decision, the Circuit Court ultimately agreed with the District Court’s decision that Anthem did not show the “extraordinary efficiencies necessary to offset the conceded anticompetitive effects of the merger.” Anthem has now filed a Petition for Certiorari with the United States Supreme Court. Below, we summarize the Circuit Court decision that Anthem is asking the Supreme Court to reconsider, and …
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Academic Articles & Reports Roundup: April 2017
Anna Zaret, Managing Editor May 4, 2017
Happy May! This month’s Roundup includes articles about 1) prescription drug competition and generic delay|2) the “Big Insurance” merger cases|and 3) the effect of the ACA’s risk adjustment and reinsurance programs. In addition to the articles highlighted below, be sure to check out our recent blog post about Public Agenda’s report by David Schleifer, Rebecca Silliman, and Chloe Rinehart on how people use and find health care price information. Prescription Drug Competition &|Generic Delay In A Citizen’s Pathway Gone Astray — Delaying Competition from Generic Drugs (New England Journal of Medicine), …
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