Thursday, February 11, 2021
Marisa E. Poncia
Despite initial obstacles because of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 rounded out to be the busiest year for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) enforcement in the United States in nearly two decades. In the fourth quarter, US agencies challenged five transactions. November 2020 saw the most premerger filings in any month since 2001. Mergers and filings in the United States are predicted to remain at high levels into the new year in light of the current economic climate. The antitrust agencies have continued to maintain that their evaluation and investigation of anticompetitive harm will remain rigorous despite the uncertain times.
Feb 5, 2021 3:00pm
The American Hospital Association is pressing the Federal Trade Commission to investigate a new policy from UnitedHealthcare for diagnostic labs they worry could confuse consumers. (jetcityimage/Getty)
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is calling for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to probe a new policy from UnitedHealthcare on coverage for diagnostic tests and to explore rate hikes for temporary nurses.
The AHA’s letter to the FTC (PDF) Thursday comes nearly a month after the agency announced a study into the impact of physician group and healthcare facility consolidation and is seeking data from six major insurers including UnitedHealthcare.
Thursday, January 7, 2021
Policing hospital mergers has become a top enforcement priority among federal antitrust enforcers. In 2020 alone, the FTC sued to block three hospital transactions (Jefferson/Einstein, Methodist Le Bonheur/Tenet and Hackensack Meridian/Englewood) and submitted letters to state regulators opposing two transactions (Community/Hendrick and Community/Shannon), while the DOJ has challenged one transaction (Geisinger/Evangelical).
On December 8, the FTC lost the first of its 2020 hospital merger challenges. United States District Judge Gerald Pappert denied the FTC’s motion for a preliminary injunction to block the combination of Philadelphia-area Thomas Jefferson University and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network. The FTC quickly appealed, but the Third Circuit denied the FTC’s motion for an injunction pending appeal. (The FTC has since won a second merger challenge: On December 23, Methodist Le Bonheur abandoned its planned acquisition of two Tene
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On December 8, 2020, a federal court in Pennsylvania rejected a challenge by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the State of Pennsylvania to block a $599 million merger of two hospital and healthcare systems in Philadelphia: the fourteen-hospital Thomas Jefferson University (Jefferson) and the three-hospital Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (Einstein). The court found that the FTC had failed to meet its burden to prove that the merger would result in an increase in prices to insurers and less competition in the relevant geographic market. The FTC has requested the federal district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit grant a temporary injunction while it appeals the decision. If the emergency motions are denied, the merger could complete as soon as December 21, 2020.