President Seeks More Antitrust Scrutiny of Health Care Transactions

On December 7, 2023, the Biden-Harris administration announced new initiatives it believes will “lower health care and prescription drug costs by promoting competition.”

Notably, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will issue a joint Request for Information, seeking, as the administration said, “input about how private equity and other corporations’ increasing power and control of our health care is affecting Americans.” Responsive information will be used by these agencies to help identify areas for future regulation and enforcement prioritization. Relatedly, HHS will appoint a Chief Competition Officer, and DOJ’s Antitrust Division and the FTC will each name Counsels for Health Care to lead these efforts.

These agencies will also broaden their data-sharing capabilities to help identify transactions “that might otherwise evade ready review by antitrust enforcers,” including what the administration characterized as “anticompetitive ‘roll ups.’” In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will add to its release of ownership information (previously limited to hospitals, hospice providers, and home health agencies) by including data on Federal Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Clinics in an effort to further “shed light on ownership trends in health care,” and solicit information from the public early next year to strengthen its data capabilities and Medicare Advantage transparency efforts.