Antitrust Compliance in Healthcare Consolidations: Addressing Tension Between Antitrust and ACA Requirements

Description

On Feb. 10, 2015, the Ninth Circuit affirmed a lower court decision that the acquisition of a physician group by a hospital system was likely to lead to anticompetitive effects and that the purported efficiencies did not outweigh the potential for harm. The Ninth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System to divest the Saltzer Medical Group in St. Alphonsus Med. Ctr. v. St. Luke’s Health Sys., No. 14-35173 (9th Cir.)

On Jan. 29, 2015, a Massachusetts judge dealt another healthcare provider a blow by rejecting a deal involving the acquisition of South Shore Hospital by Partners Healthcare in Boston. Commonw. v. Partners Healthcare Sys., No. SUCV2014-02033-BLS2 (Mass. Super. Ct.). Partners subsequently announced that it would withdraw its proposal to acquire South Shore after Attorney General Maura Healey announced she would pursue a challenge to the transaction if Partners pursued the acquisition.

These recent challenges to healthcare provider consolidations demonstrate that both state and federal antitrust enforcers are closely scrutinizing both hospital consolidations and vertical acquisitions of physician groups and ancillary providers. Much can be learned from studying the record in these recent healthcare challenges.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the recent developments in antitrust challenges to healthcare provider consolidations and the implications of those developments for both healthcare and antitrust counsel. The panel will offer guidance on addressing antitrust issues during healthcare provider consolidations.