Project Description
In the Press
Distinguished Fellow and Advisory Board Member Tim Greaney was quoted in the 6/26/2021 Star Tribune article “Will Blue Cross settlement boost health plan competition in Minnesota?“:
But getting Blue plans to enter one another’s territories through non-Blue affiliates is easier said than done. For starters, they can’t use the Blue trademarks, said Thomas Greaney of UC Hastings Law in San Francisco.
Plus, the real challenge for insurers expanding into new territories is negotiating competitive contracts with doctors and hospitals, Greaney said. New carriers have trouble getting the best rates because they don’t enter a market with the leverage of a large subscriber base — a business reality that the settlement won’t change.
“Will it promote a wave of competition?” Greaney said. “It certainly may occur at the margins, but the long-standing obstacle to new entry for insurance plans is forming a network.”
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