In March 2013, the FTC and the Idaho Attorney General filed a joint complaint challenging the merger betweenSt. Luke’s Health System, Idaho’s largest health system, and Saltzer Medical Group in Nampa, Idaho’s largest independent, multi-specialty physician group. The complaint alleges that the merger is anticompetitive, in that it would create a dominant single provider of adult primary care physicians in the Nampa, Idaho area, with almost 60 percent market share.

On August 20, 2014, 16 states filed an amicus brief to the 9th Circuit appeal, explaining that the acceleration of health care costs due to the growth of large health care provider systems has become a matter of grave concern for the States. On February 10, 2015, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the Idaho federal district court’s ruling that the merger violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act and the Idaho Competition Act. The appellate court further affirmed the lower court’s order of full divestiture. Most recently on May 2, 2017, the federal district court approved the divestiture of Saltzer from St. Luke’s Health System, restoring competition in the local adult primary care services market by reestablishing Saltzer as an independent medical practice.

For details, read the Source’s case summary and Blog post.