Health - Antitrust
Health care providers and others in the health care field have seen explosive growth in private antitrust litigation and government antitrust enforcement over the last several years. Antitrust issues arise in hospital and physician practice group mergers, affiliations, and joint ventures; mergers of health care insurance companies; managed care contracting; medical staff privileges decisions; health system diversification; price discrimination in the sale of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies; group purchasing and sales arrangements; and other common practices and arrangements.
Our antitrust counselors and litigators work closely with the Firm's Health Department to ensure that our health care clients comply with antitrust laws. Our broad base of experience allows us to go beyond simply identifying antitrust problems. We work with clients on solutions that facilitate achievement of health care provider business objectives.
We provide antitrust counseling and litigation services to a wide variety of providers and others in the health care field. We represent hospitals (both for-profit and not-for-profit) and integrated health care systems, physician specialty and multi-specialty practice groups, health insurers, group purchasing organizations, pharmaceutical and medical device suppliers, medically-supervised weight loss programs and trade associations of health care providers.
Our representation covers the full range of antitrust issues. We are involved in counseling and representation of health care clients in investigations and litigation brought by private parties, federal antitrust authorities and state attorneys general.
Our Firm counsels health care providers on all antitrust issues associated with mergers and acquisitions and the formation of provider networks. We represent clients in government investigations of hospital mergers, from preparation of Hart-Scott-Rodino Act premerger notification filings through successful closing of Federal Trade Commission or Justice Department Antitrust Division inquiries.
In this regard, we coordinate economic analysis and efficiency studies to support proposed consolidations. We also assist providers in addressing antitrust issues associated with the formation and operation of joint ventures, including hospital/physician organizations, home health companies, group purchasing organizations or joint sales organizations, durable medical equipment suppliers and high-technology ventures such as magnetic resonance imaging centers.
We counsel clients on numerous antitrust issues that arise in connection with managed care contracting. These issues include the steps that IPAs, provider networks and provider-controlled PPOs must take to avoid liability for price-fixing and boycotts in connection with negotiations with third-party payors. We also represent clients in federal grand jury proceedings investigating possible price-fixing by physicians in the course of negotiations with managed care plans.
In addition to counseling clients, we represent several providers in antitrust litigation. A common source of such litigation is staff privileges decisions, often spawned by exclusive contracts between hospitals and hospital-based physicians, as well as decisions excluding providers from participation in provider networks. We provide a full range of litigation services.
Contacts
- David Marx Jr.
+1 312 984 7668
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Antitrust & Competition Client Services
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