Tag Archives: Antitrust

Two Squire Sanders Attorneys Offer Modern Healthcare Readers Insight on the Antitrust and Fraud and Abuse Implications of the New ACO Final Rule

Squire Sanders attorneys, Chris Gordon, a Principal in the Washington, D.C. office, and Rob Nauman, a Senior Associate in the Columbus, Ohio office, were recently interviewed by Modern Healthcare for their take on the relaxation of the interim final rule on waivers of fraud and abuse laws and the antitrust policy statement on ACOs.  Their … Continue Reading

Final ACO Antitrust Policy Released

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

LiveBlog of FTC Workshop: Another Dose of Competition, Accountable Care Organizations and Antitrust

1:15PM—The workshop concluded a few minutes ago.  Overall, I suspect that most people present or who listened or viewed the webcast would agree that the discussion was helpful and certainly many excellent points were brought forward to the regulators.  Particularly in the second session, the regulators asked many probing questions, a good sign of their … Continue Reading

Upcoming CMS and FTC Public Forums Provide Opportunity to Comment on ACO Related Regulations

CMS is on the clock first, with a free webinar titled, “ACOs and Antitrust, Stark, Anti-Kickback, & Civil Monetary Penalty Law Webinar.”  Hosted by Troy Barsky, Director, Division of Technical Payment Policy at CMS and Michael Wroblewski, Performance-based Policy Payment Staff, the event is broken into two sessions this Thursday, May 5th, the first beginning … Continue Reading

Discord at the Agencies Regarding Antitrust Reviews?

As discussed previously here, here, and here, antitrust matters are a key consideration in the design of the Shared Savings Program and ACO development.  For example, antitrust review of prospective ACOs by the FTC and/or DOJ is a critical aspect of the ACO application process. Despite the release of the joint statement, there is evidence … Continue Reading

Taking the Antitrust Policy Statement a Step Further…

In commentary to the proposed regulations, CMS has committed to coordinate with other Federal agencies on various issues that relate to the Shared Savings Program. This includes coordination with the FTC and DOJ (the “Antitrust Agencies”) with respect to antitrust issues. This coordination is shown through CMS’s intention to incorporate the FTC/DOJ Proposed Statement on … Continue Reading

Antitrust Considerations from the Recently Released ACO Proposed Regulations

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

Antitrust Guidelines for Physician Discussions Relating to ACO Formation

Discussions among physicians and physician groups contemplating the formation of an ACO can raise concerns under antitrust laws, particularly when those physicians or physician groups are considered competitors in the market.  In the absence of contradictory guidance in the forthcoming ACO rules, it is important that physicians engaging in such discussions abide by the following … Continue Reading
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