The Indiana Department of Health recently approved a major hospital merger in Terre Haute between Union Health and HCA Healthcare’s Terre Haute Regional Hospital. Under traditional antitrust analysis, the transaction is the kind of horizontal consolidation that would raise serious red flags. The combined system will control nearly all inpatient hospital services in Vigo County, … Continue Reading
For many health care organizations, including hospital systems, physician groups, and private equity–backed health care platforms, board and governance structures have grown increasingly complex as the industry consolidates and integrates across service lines. It is common for executives, physicians, and investor representatives to hold board seats or observer roles across affiliated or partnered entities. While … Continue Reading
What happened. On September 10, 2025, the FTC announced it sent warning letters to a number of healthcare employers and staffing firms about potentially unlawful non-compete provisions, signaling the agency’s renewed focus on labor restraints in healthcare. The letters urge recipients to reassess existing contracts and warn that the FTC may open investigations if provisions … Continue Reading
Amedisys, a major provider of home health and hospice care, has agreed to pay a $1.1 million civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act during the antitrust review of its pending $3.3 billion acquisition by UnitedHealth’s Optum division. What Happened In December 2023, while responding to a DOJ “Second Request” … Continue Reading
In 2022, the state of California passed into law the California Health Care Quality and Affordability Act which requires that health care entities give the state 90-day notice of certain mergers, acquisitions, or other transactions projected to close on or after April 1, 2024. Review of these transactions began on January 1, 2024. Health care … Continue Reading
On September 21, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) filed a lawsuit against U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (USAP) and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe, alleging that they engaged in anticompetitive practices in the anesthesia services market in Texas. According to the FTC’s complaint, USAP and Welsh Carson executed a multi-year strategy to … Continue Reading
This summer, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) (together “antitrust agencies” or “agencies”) continued to push boundaries on what constitutes anticompetitive conduct with the withdrawal of key healthcare policy statements and heightened scrutiny of the pharmaceutical industry. This summer also saw the DOJ and FTC score crucial enforcement wins in … Continue Reading
Last month the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) sued to block the $27.8 billion acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics plc (“Horizon”) by the biopharmaceutical corporation, Amgen Inc. (“Amgen”). The lawsuit was the latest move by the Biden Administration to tackle the high price of prescription drugs, which President Joe Biden described as “excessive” in his July 2021 … Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently withdrew three policy statements regarding conduct in the healthcare sector. The statements withdrawn are the Department of Justice and FTC Antitrust Enforcement Policy Statements in the Health Care Area (dated September 1993); the Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy in Health Care (dated August 1996); and the Statement of … Continue Reading
On Monday, September 19, 2022, D.C. District Court Judge Carl J. Nichols rejected the Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) request to block UnitedHealth’s $13.8 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare. UnitedHealth is the largest health insurer in the United States, while Change Healthcare is a leading data clearinghouse for insurance claims. The DOJ initially filed suit to … Continue Reading
On February 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed suit to block UnitedHealth’s proposed acquisition of Change Healthcare. UnitedHealth owns the largest health insurer in the U.S., while Change Healthcare is a data company whose software is the largest processor of health insurance claims in the U.S. The DOJ alleges that the acquisition, … Continue Reading
The Department of Justice kicked off 2021 with its first publicly filed, two-count indictment against Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC (SCA) and successor entity Scai Holdings, LLC, both accused of criminal antitrust violations for agreeing with other healthcare companies not to solicit each other’s senior-level employees. The charges are the first to come out of an … Continue Reading
Recent years have seen significant vertical integration in the healthcare space, whether megamergers such as CVS-Aetna and Cigna-Express Scripts, or the numerous hospital and health system acquisitions of physician groups and other non-hospital healthcare providers. These vertical mergers—combining assets that are used at different levels of the supply chain—have largely escaped significant antitrust scrutiny since … Continue Reading
On October 20, 2011, the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission jointly issued their “Final Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations Participating in the Medical Shared Savings Program.” The policy statement, which largely mirrors the agencies’ proposed policy statement issued on April 19, 2011, outlines how the agencies will enforce U.S. … Continue Reading
The Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice (the “Agencies”) recently released Proposed Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding ACOs, which contains several points of interest: Rule of Reason Treatment. The Agencies will provide rule of reason treatment to an ACO if, in the commercial market, the ACO uses the same governance and leadership structure and … Continue Reading
