The Supreme Court last week granted the stay requested by the Government enjoining the enforcement of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia’s orders involving President Trump’s firing of members of the National...more
5/27/2025
/ Antitrust Provisions ,
Article II ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Executive Authority ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Government Agencies ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctions ,
Merits Systems Protection Board ,
NLRB ,
Quasi-Judicial Process ,
Regulatory Authority ,
Removal For-Cause ,
SCOTUS ,
Stays ,
Trump Administration ,
Trump v Wilcox
Back in late January, U.S. District Court Judge Xavier Rodriguez in the Western District of Texas granted summary judgment to Loredo Medical Center (LMC) and a locally-based interventional cardiology group (LMC Cardiology...more
2/24/2025
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Evidence ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Monopolization ,
Section 2 ,
Sherman Act ,
Summary Judgment
In March 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) (collectively, Agencies) issued a request for information (RFI) seeking public comment...more
1/27/2025
/ Acquisitions ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Physicians ,
Private Equity ,
Transparency
In June 2023, the Federal Trade Commission (Commission) proposed major changes to its premerger notification rules that implement the Hart-Scot-Rodino Act and impact a large swath of merger and acquisition transactions each...more
The Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo (and its companion case, Relentless v. Department of Commerce), in which it overruled the Chevron doctrine, has received a great deal of attention...more
7/29/2024
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Chevron Deference ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Loper Bright Enterprises v Raimondo ,
Physician Medicare Reimbursements ,
Relentless Inc v US Department of Commerce ,
Sex Discrimination ,
Stark Law ,
Statutory Interpretation
We reported last week on the U.S. District Court’s denial of an FTC request for a preliminary injunction to block Novant Health’s “Novant) purchase of Lake Norman Regional Medical Center (LNR) and Davis Regional Psychiatric...more
Over the past several months, antitrust enforcement activity in the healthcare provider sector has continued to steadily increase. In Part I of this two-part update, we discussed recent lawsuits involving private equity...more
4/15/2024
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Cartwright Act ,
Competition ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Lack of Authority ,
Popular ,
Request For Information
As reported in a prior blog post, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed suit in federal district court in September alleging that U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (“USAP”), and the private equity firm Welsh, Carson,...more
11/30/2023
/ Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Article II ,
Class Action ,
Conspiracies ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Injunctive Relief ,
Monopolization ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Popular ,
Self-Funded Health Plans ,
Sherman Act ,
The Clayton Act ,
Unions
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas recently granted the U.S. Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) motion to dismiss the criminal charges it had previously brought against Surgical Care Affiliates, LLC and...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently considered the question whether an employed physician can be paid bonus compensation relating to procedures performed by the...more
10/26/2023
/ Advisory Opinions ,
Ambulatory Surgery Centers ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bonuses ,
Compensation ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employees ,
Health Care Providers ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Remuneration ,
Safe Harbors
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the request of qui tam relators that it review the Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in United States of America ex rel. Martin v. Hathaway, No. 22-1463 (6th Cir.). In so doing, the...more
10/10/2023
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
But For Causation ,
Denial of Certiorari ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Patient Referrals ,
Physicians ,
Qui Tam ,
Relators ,
Remuneration ,
SCOTUS
The False Claims Act’s (FCA) materiality requirement as articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Universal Health Servs., Inc. v. United States ex rel. Escobar, 579 U.S. 176 (2016) was again front and center, this time in a...more
Yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed suit in federal district court alleging that U.S. Anesthesia Partners, Inc. (“USAP”), and the private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe (“Welsh Carson”), which...more
On August 18, the Office of Inspector General in the Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) issued Advisory Opinion 23-05 in which it concluded that a proposed arrangement involving the formation of a company...more
On the heels of the Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in Martin v. Hathaway, previously discussed on Health Law Observer, a critical issue in that case, i.e., the meaning of the term “remuneration” for purposes of the federal...more
As explained in prior posts, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia seeking to enjoin Louisiana Children’s Medical Center (“LCMC”) from continuing to integrate...more
Two recently decided federal court cases hone in on the proper interpretation and application of three critical components of the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), namely:
•the requirement that a violation of the AKS must...more
4/17/2023
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Bribery ,
Causation ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Health Care Programs (FHCP) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Patient Referrals ,
Qui Tam ,
Rebates ,
Remuneration
A recent U.S. District Court decision provides a good example of how federal courts will apply the public disclosure/original source rules in whistleblower cases alleging that health care providers violated the False Claims...more
In a prior post, we discussed the FTC’s recently-issued Proposed Rule that would, if finalized in its current form, and with only limited exceptions, prohibit employers from using non-compete clauses.
With respect the...more
Mergers between competitor hospitals in the same geographic market have been routinely scrutinized and often challenged by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Cross-market mergers...more
Background-
Many states have enacted Certificate of Public Advantage (“COPA”) laws which seek to permit hospital mergers that might otherwise have been challenged by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) and found to violate...more