In early June, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) exercised its authority under Section 6(b) of the Federal Trade Commission Act and launched an inquiry into prescription benefit managers (PBMs)....more
As reported in a June 3, 2022 press release from the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, U.S. Representatives Frank Pallone, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, and Senator Roger Wicker released a “discussion draft” of a federal data...more
Both the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) have authority to enforce Section 7 of the Clayton Act by investigating and challenging mergers where the effect of such...more
Last week, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Alvaro Bedoya to fill the open fifth Commissioner seat on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The confirmation fills the vacancy left when Rohit Chopra resigned in...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) are actively considering ways to “modernize” and strengthen their merger enforcement guidelines....more
When the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) makes a determination to challenge a hospital transaction, the FTC first seeks injunctive relief from the relevant federal district court, requesting that the court prohibit the...more
The American Hospital Association (AHA), on behalf of its nearly 5,000 members and clinician partners, recently responded to the federal antitrust agencies’ request for comments to help inform the agencies’ efforts to...more
As part of their initiative to reevaluate both the 2010 Horizontal Merger Guidelines and the 2020 Vertical Merger Guidelines (collectively, “Merger Guidelines”), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and U.S. Department of...more
Parties to a transaction subject to the reporting requirements of the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 (HSR) must adhere to a statutory waiting period (30 days for most transactions) after filing their...more
Adjustments to the reporting thresholds under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements (HSR) Act of 1976 are in effect as of February 23, 2022....more
On January 28, 2022, a federal grand jury in Maine returned an indictment charging four managers of home health care agencies with participating in a conspiracy to suppress the wages and restrict the job mobility of Personal...more
2/10/2022
/ Antitrust Division ,
Antitrust Violations ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Home Health Care ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
No-Poaching ,
Wage and Hour ,
Wage-Fixing
The Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division announced last week that they are soliciting public comments on ways to “modernize federal merger guidelines” to assist the agencies in...more
Hospital transactions, including acquisitions and mergers, that meet Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) thresholds must, subject to any available exception, be reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Antitrust Division of...more
We’re beginning to see how mergers and acquisitions in the hospital industry are being impacted by President Biden’s executive order promoting competition in the American economy. The Federal Trade Commission recently...more
On November 9, 2021, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Commissioner Christine Wilson addressed the American Bar Association Antitrust Law Section’s 2021 Fall Forum. Her prepared comments, entitled “The Neo-Brandeisian...more
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has reimplemented a policy of requiring all merger enforcement orders to include the requirement that acquisitive firms obtain prior approval from the FTC before closing any future...more
On September 28, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a blog post announcing several changes to how the FTC will investigate mergers and acquisitions and how it will approach second-request negotiations. The blog...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently issued guidance clarifying protections applicable to consumers’ sensitive personal data increasingly collected by so-called “health apps.” The FTC press release indicated it has...more
Chair Khan’s Priorities -
In a memo dated September 22, 2021, the Chair of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”), Lina Khan, described for the FTC Staff and fellow Commissioners what she described as her “vision and...more
On September 15, 2021, by a 3-2 vote, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) decided to withdraw the vertical merger guidelines that had been issued in 2020. In its statement supporting the withdrawal, the majority raised...more
The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) recently released a policy statement addressing repair restrictions imposed by manufacturers and sellers (“Policy Statement”). The Policy Statement was the result of an FTC workshop...more
A Surge of HSR Filings -
On August 3, 2021, the Acting Director of the Bureau of Competition of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) authored a blog post discussing the tsunami of Hart-Scott-Rodino (“HSR”) filings that the...more
Prior to 1995, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) required parties to a Commission Order entered in a merger case to obtain the FTC’s prior approval for any future transaction in similar markets above a de minimis...more
On July 9, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (the “EO”). The EO casts a wide net, encompassing many industries, including health care....more
Only a few days remain before the enforcement delay that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) exercised due to COVID-19 will end and the agency will require certain payors to publish a Patient Access application...more