Publication
“How Will Draft Merger Guidelines Impact Health Care Markets?”
December 13, 2023
In 2021, President Biden began his administration with an executive order recognizing that “competition has weakened in too many markets, denying Americans the benefits of an open economy and widening racial, income, and wealth inequality.” After decades of ineffective antitrust enforcement that allowed consolidation in many industries, including health care, the executive order announced a “whole of government competition policy” intended to strengthen competition and enhance antitrust enforcement throughout US industries, with a special focus on health care markets.
In July of 2023, the Administration took an important step in fleshing out that policy by releasing new draft Merger Guidelines. In this article, we explain what is contained in those proposed guidelines and the ways in which they meaningfully differ from previous antitrust enforcement policies.
Related Article: Source Team Analyzes Importance of New Merger Guidelines for Health Affairs Forefront
Source Sightings
A Step Forward for Health Care Market Oversight: Oregon Health Authority’s Health Care Market Oversight Program
Antitrust’s Healthcare Conundrum: Cross-Market Mergers and the Rise of System Power
Challenging Anticompetitive Cross-Market Health Mergers
American Bar Association 2022 Antitrust Fall Forum
The Rise Of Cross-Market Hospital Systems And Their Market Power In The US
Taming Health Insurance Costs for Employers and Employees