The Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") and the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice ("Antitrust Division") released their respective year-end reviews highlighted by aggressive enforcement in the health care industry. The FTC, in particular, indicated that 47% of its enforcement actions during calendar year 2016 took place in the health care industry (including pharmaceuticals and medical devices). Of note were successful challenges to hospital mergers in Pennsylvania (Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Pinnacle Health System), and Illinois (Advocate Health Care Network and North Shore University Health System). In both actions, the FTC was able to convince the court that the merger would likely substantially lessen competition for the provision of general acute-care hospital services in relevant areas in violation of section 7 of the Clayton Act. See FTC v. Penn State Hershey Med. Center, 838 F. 3d 327 (3d Cir. 2016); and FTC v. Advocate Health Care Network et al No. 1:15-cv-11473, 2017 U. S. Dist. LEXIS 37707 (N.D. Ill.Mar. 16, 2017)

The Antitrust Division, in similar fashion, touted its actions to block the mergers of Aetna and Humana, and Anthem and Cigna. Complaints against both mergers were filed simultaneously in July of 2016, and tried before different judges in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia. After extensive trials, Judge Bates blocked the Aetna/Humana deal, and Judge Amy Berman Jackson blocked the Anthem/Cigna transaction. United States v. Aetna Inc., No. 1:16-cv-1494, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8490 (D.D.C. Jan 23, 2017) and United States v. Anthem Inc., No. 1:16-cv-01493, 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 23614 (D.D.C. Feb8, 2017).

In addition to their enforcement activities, the agencies promoted jointly issued policy guidelines, including their "Antitrust Guidance for Human Resources Professionals." Although not specific to any industry, this guidance has particular relevance to the health care industry. Among other things, this guidance makes clear that naked wage-fixing (such as the wave of wage fixing claims relating to nurses) and no-poaching agreements (that would include agreements not to hire competing physicians) are not only per se illegal, but also subject to criminal prosecution.

While a marginal enforcement shift may be in store as a result of the change in administration, most signs point to a continued focus on the health care industry. Maureen K. Ohlhausen, appointed by President Trump as acting Chair of the FTC, reiterated in a speech recently delivered at the spring meeting of the American Bar Association's antitrust section, that "[i]t's extremely important we continue our enforcement in the health care space." Likewise the Acting Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition – Abbott (Tad) Lipsky, appointed by Chairman Ohlhausen, applauded the FTC's success in challenging the Advocate/Northshore Hospital merger noting, in a related FTC press release, that the "merger would likely have reduced the quality, and increased the cost, of health care for residents of the North Shore area of Chicago."

Makan Delrahim, President Trump's selection (awaiting confirmation) to head the Antitrust Division, recently lobbied on behalf of Anthem and its efforts to acquire Cigna, and has openly stated with respect to certain announced mergers, that size alone does not create an antitrust problem. Nevertheless, given the political climate and overall impact the health care industry has on the U.S. economy, the Antitrust Division's efforts to open markets in the health care sector, particularly to generics and new medical technologies by challenging pay for delay deals and scrutinizing unnecessarily restrictive agreements among medical device manufacturers is likely to continue.

A wild card affecting future antitrust enforcement is increasing possibility of passage of the Standard Merger and Acquisitions Review Through Equal Rights Act of 2017 (H.R. 659 a/k/a the "SMARTER ACT"). This bill, recently approved by the House Judiciary Committee, would eliminate the FTC's administrative adjudication process as it relates to merger enforcement, forcing the FTC to bring all such actions in court. In addition, it would align current preliminary injunction standards such that both the FTC and DOJ would face the same thresholds required of the Clayton Act rather than the more lenient standard under the FTC Act. A similar bill passed the House in 2016, but was not taken up by the Senate.

Back to Health Law Advisor Blog

Search This Blog

Blog Editors

Authors

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.