Recently, the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") faced major losses in challenging hospital mergers.  However, it is clear that the FTC is not backing down, especially given its tendency to conclude that proposed efficiencies do not outweigh the chance of lessening competition.

In July of this year, the FTC abandoned a challenge to the proposed merger of St. Mary's Medical Center and Cabell Huntington Hospital in West Virginia after state authorities had changed West Virginia law and approved the merger despite the FTC's objections. This year as well, the FTC failed to enjoin the Penn State Hershey Medical Center and PinnacleHealth System ("Pennsylvania Hospital Merger") and the Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University Health System ("Illinois Hospital Merger") under a relevant geographic market theory in the federal district courts.  However, the FTC promptly appealed to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Seventh Circuits, respectively.

Against many predictions to the contrary, the FTC prevailed when, on September 27, 2016, the Third Circuit reversed the District Court's decision in the Pennsylvania Hospital Merger, concluding that the lower court erred when it disagreed with the FTC on the choice and use of the proper test to define the relevant geographic market. The Third Circuit concluded that the hypothetical monopolist test should determine the relevant geographic market, and that using patient flow data to show a relevant market is "particularly unhelpful in hospital merger cases."[1]  This means that using data showing why one patient travels to a farther hospital for services does not have a constraining effect on the price charged by the nearby hospital that the patient does not choose.  Additionally, the Third Circuit expressed extreme skepticism about using an efficiencies defense.  While it recognized that other courts and the government's Merger Guidelines themselves consider efficiencies in their antitrust analyses, it made clear that "efficiencies are not the same as equities"[2] needed to successfully overcome a Clayton Act Section 7 claim in considering whether an injunction is warranted.

The Third Circuit's logic may have emboldened the FTC, which on September 30, 2016, formally urged Virginia state authorities to reject the proposed merger of Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont Health System, two large regional health systems, claiming that the merger would lessen competition and reduce the quality, availability, and price of health care services in the area.  The FTC is alleging, that if the merger were consummated, the new entity would control 71% of the geographic market for inpatient hospital services in the area that both systems serve, and proposed efficiencies (e.g., greater clinical service offerings, reductions in labor expenses, and reductions in purchasing) are not extraordinary enough to outweigh the anticompetitive harms created.  While Virginia does not require FTC consent to approve the merger, the FTC's evaluation under the Merger Guidelines carries weight because its process is similar to Virginia's antitrust review.

Going forward, potential merger partners in the health care space should recognize that the FTC has been energized in its opposition to consolidation and should be attentive to the careful definition of geographic markets with an eye towards the hypothetical monopolist test. As stakeholders begin crafting acquisition strategies to take advantage of the Affordable Care Act's consolidation opportunities, they should recognize that the enforcement components of the government such as the FTC are in apparent contradiction with the policy arm of the administration and that the FTC won't back down from its challenges to mergers.

[1] FTC v. Penn State Hershey Medical Center, et al., at 19, No. 16-2365 (3d Cir. 2016).

[2] Id.at 36.

Back to Health Law Advisor Blog

Search This Blog

Blog Editors

Related Services

Topics

Archives

Jump to Page

Subscribe

Sign up to receive an email notification when new Health Law Advisor posts are published:

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.