In early February, Senator Amy Klobuchar, new Chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, introduced the “Competition and Antitrust Law Enforcement Reform Act of...more
The year 2020 was an eventful one in the world of healthcare antitrust. The year began with the announcement of the precedent-setting settlement of the California Attorney General’s action against Sutter Health and ended with...more
1/21/2021
/ Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Biden Administration ,
Blue Cross ,
Blue Shield ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Insurance ,
Hospital Mergers ,
McCarran-Ferguson Act ,
Multidistrict Litigation
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has failed – at least for now – in its efforts to derail a merger between Thomas Jefferson University Health System and Albert Einstein Health System, two Philadelphia-area health systems....more
After over 8 years of hard-fought litigation, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, together with its 36 Blue Cross/Blue Shield members (“the Blues”), recently announced a proposed settlement of class action antitrust...more
The U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1418, the “Competitive Health Insurance Reform Act,” by a voice vote on September 21. The legislation, which was introduced back in early 2019 by Congressman Peter DeFazio...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced on February 27 that it has filed an administrative complaint challenging the proposed merger of Jefferson Health (Jefferson) and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network (Einstein), two...more
The Federal Trade Commission announced on February 11, 2020 that it had issued Special Orders to five large technology companies, requiring them to provide information to the FTC concerning all corporate acquisitions they...more
The terms of a settlement that resolved antitrust litigation between the State of California and Sutter Health, the largest health system in Northern California, have now become public, almost two months after the settlement...more
1/7/2020
/ Ambulatory Surgery Centers ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Litigation ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Competition ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Contract Terms ,
Contracting Procedures ,
Corporate Structures ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Insurance Contracts ,
Market Power ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Settlement Agreements ,
Settlement Negotiations ,
Sutter Health
The Federal Trade Commission has issued orders to five health insurers and two health systems requiring them to provide information that will assist the FTC in studying the competitive effects of certificates of public...more
10/29/2019
/ Aetna ,
Anthem Insurance ,
Anti-Competitive ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) ,
Blue Cross ,
Blue Shield ,
Certificates of Public Advantage (COPAs) ,
CIGNA ,
Competition ,
Cooperative Agreements ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Investigations ,
Request For Information ,
United Healthcare Insurance Co.
Concluding one of the longest merger reviews in history, on September 4, Judge Richard Leon, District Judge for the District of Columbia, issued his final ruling in United States v. CVS Health, approving the proposed...more
9/5/2019
/ Aetna ,
AIDS ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Evidentiary Hearings ,
Final Judgment ,
Health Insurance ,
HIV ,
Medicare Part D ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drug Coverage ,
Public Interest ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Settlement ,
Tunney Act
The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals recently handed the Federal Trade Commission another appellate victory in its efforts to curtail anticompetitive mergers in the healthcare industry, affirming the FTC’s earlier District Court...more
The District of Columbia District Court has again deferred its decision regarding whether to approve the merger between CVS Health and Aetna, a $69 billion transaction that was first announced back in December 2017. ...more
4/11/2019
/ Aetna ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Health Insurance ,
Joint Venture ,
Medicare Part D ,
Merger Controls ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Popular
A bill recently introduced in the Florida legislature (HB 1243) requires Florida hospitals and group physician practices contemplating mergers or acquisitions to provide advance notice of such transactions to the Florida...more
3/22/2019
/ Acquisition Agreements ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
Corporate Sales Transactions ,
Florida ,
Hart-Scott-Rodino Act ,
Health Care Providers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Merger Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Proposed Legislation ,
State and Local Government
Atrium Health (formerly known as Carolinas Healthcare System) scored a big victory in its defense of an antitrust class action on March 4, when the Court ruled that the plaintiffs in Benitez v. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg...more
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 26, CVS Health Corporation announced that it has received all of the regulatory approvals necessary to complete its acquisition of Aetna and that the...more
The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced on November 15 that it was settling its antitrust lawsuit against Atrium Health (formerly known as Carolinas Health System)....more
The United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division announced on October 10, 2018, that it was conditionally approving the CVS/Aetna merger, a $69 billion transaction that combines the nation’s largest retail pharmacy...more
10/12/2018
/ Aetna ,
Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
Competition ,
CVS ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Health Insurance ,
Medicare Part D ,
Pharmacies ,
Popular ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Retailers
On September 17, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) Antitrust Division issued a “closing statement” in which it announced that it was closing its investigation into Cigna’s proposed acquisition of Express Scripts,...more
On July 9, 2018, President Trump announced his intention to nominate D.C. Circuit Court Judge Brett Kavanaugh to replace retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court....more
7/11/2018
/ Aetna ,
Antitrust Provisions ,
CIGNA ,
CVS ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Horizontal Mergers ,
Judges ,
Nominations ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
SCOTUS ,
Trump Administration
Florida’s First District Court of Appeals has affirmed a decision by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) that denied an application by Compassionate Care Hospice of the Gulf Coast (CCH) to open a hospice...more
On February 27, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law held a hearing to consider the implications of the proposed CVS/Aetna merger. The transaction, valued at approximately $69...more