Summary

A new federal antitrust task force will focus on investigations in health care markets, and, where warranted, civil and criminal enforcement, the Department of Justice announced.

The Upshot

• The task force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion (HCMC) within the DOJ’s Antitrust Division will also focus on policy advocacy, according to a May 9 press release.
• The task force “will consider widespread competition concerns shared by patients, health care professionals, businesses, and entrepreneurs, including issues regarding payer-provider consolidation, serial acquisitions, labor and quality of care, medical billing, health care IT services, access to and misuse of health care data, and more.”
• The HCMC will bring together prosecutors, economists, health care industry experts, technologists, data scientists, investigators, and policy advisers “to identify and address pressing antitrust problems in health care markets.”
• The recent announcement follows closely on the DOJ’s joint announcement with the FTC and Department of Health and Human Services of a joint inquiry into private equity ownership in the health care field, as reported in our prior Alert.

The Bottom Line

The federal government’s ongoing enforcement push in the health care industry implicates numerous areas of law in addition to antitrust, from mergers and acquisitions considerations to privacy and cybersecurity concerns and labor and employment issues. Ballard Spahr attorneys are monitoring developments concerning antitrust and related issues in health care and other industries. We will continue to provide updates.

A new Department of Justice antitrust task force focusing on health care markets is the federal government’s latest signal of increased scrutiny of health care industry participants. The DOJ said in a May 9 announcement that it has created the Health Care Monopolies and Collusion (HCMC) Task Force within its Antitrust Division to pursue investigations, and, where warranted, civil and criminal enforcement in the health care industry. The task force will also facilitate policy advocacy, the DOJ said.

The new HCMC Task Force will consider a broad scope of potential antitrust issues and “widespread competition concerns shared by patients, health care professionals, businesses and entrepreneurs,” the DOJ said. These include issues regarding “payer-provider consolidation, serial acquisitions, labor and quality of care, medical billing, health care IT services, access to and misuse of health care data, and more.”

The task force comprises a wide range of professionals, including “civil and criminal prosecutors, economists, health care industry experts, technologists, data scientists, investigators and policy advisers from across the division’s Civil, Criminal, Litigation, and Policy Programs, and the Expert Analysis Group, to identify and address pressing antitrust problems in health care markets.”

The HCMC Task Force will be directed by Katrina Rouse, a long-serving antitrust prosecutor, who will serve concurrently as the Antitrust Division’s Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement and Special Counsel for Health Care.

The DOJ is encouraging members of the public to share their experiences with the task force on the Antitrust Division’s www.HealthyCompetition.gov webpage. The DOJ announcement added that the Antitrust Division “will refer matters to other federal and state law enforcers” as it deems appropriate.

Last week’s unveiling of the HCMC Task Force follows by just a few weeks an announcement that the DOJ, FTC, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are collaborating on a joint inquiry into private equity ownership in the health care field, as reported in our prior Alert. As our Alert explains, the FTC is actively pursuing antitrust enforcement through litigation.

The three agencies recently extended by 30 days the comment period for their Request for Information on Consolidation in Health Care Markets. The new deadline is June 5.

The federal government’s ongoing enforcement push in the health care industry implicates numerous areas of law in addition to antitrust, from mergers and acquisitions to privacy and cybersecurity concerns and labor and employment issues.

[View source.]