Anjana Patel, Trish Wagner Quoted in “Whether Harris or Trump Wins 2024 Election, M&A Challenges Await”

Anjana D. Patel and Patricia M. Wagner, Members of the Firm in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, were quoted in Modern Healthcare, in “Whether Harris or Trump Wins 2024 Election, M&A Challenges Await,” by Michael McAuliff. (Read the full version – subscription required.)

Following is an excerpt:

The conventional wisdom on healthcare mergers and acquisitions has long held that Republicans tend to be friendlier to consolidation than Democrats. But analysts looking at the 2024 presidential contest don't see a completely predictable landscape. …

"While there may be some differences from an overall policy perspective, generally the staff at the antitrust enforcement agencies have been fairly consistent in reviewing and challenging potential transactions," Epstein Becker Green attorneys Anjana Patel and Patricia Wagner wrote in an email. …

Still, who the president is will make a difference.

Patel and Wagner expect a Harris administration would carry on much as the Biden administration, and cited examples such as Biden's 2021 executive order on competition that instructed the Justice Department and the FTC to overhaul M&A guidelines, as well as a specific emphasis on the effects of hospital mergers. They also noted the Biden White House's concern over imbalances in equity that arise after mergers, particularly in underserved and rural communities.

"Based on what we’ve seen to date, we would anticipate a Harris administration would take a similar approach," Patel and Wagner wrote.

The attorneys were less certain of specific approaches a Trump administration would take, but they noted there is more support in his party than there used to be for more vigorous antitrust enforcement.

"Some Republicans now have concerns that excessive consolidation could harm consumers, drive up prices and reduce the quality of care, which runs counter to the free-market principles many Republicans support," Patel and Wagner wrote. "This has led to a willingness among some Republicans to consider more robust antitrust policies as a way to ensure fair competition and prevent the concentration of too much power in the hands of a few large corporations."