An area case commanding national attention in the health care industry continued Thursday, with a federal judge granting regulators’ request to keep two Dauphin County health systems from merging today.
John E. Jones III, United States judge for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, put the proposed merger of Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center and PinnacleHealth System on hold for two weeks while legal issues in the case are further scrutinized.
The arguments in the case highlight an intensifying national debate on whether a massive wave of consolidation in health care hurts or helps consumers.
Providers say they need to join forces because President Obama’s health care law is changing the industry, and that being bigger will help them improve quality and lower costs.
Regulators are growing increasingly skeptical of those claims, and are intervening in this and other cases where they say deals would decrease competition, raising costs and reducing quality.
The Federal Trade Commission, which challenges to only about 1 percent of hospital mergers and generally succeeds when it does, suffered a rare defeat Monday when Jones denied its initial request to delay the merger until the agency completes its administrative proceedings on the case.
Full Content: National Law Review
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Federal Antitrust Trial Explores Potential Impact of Tapestry-Capri Merger
Sep 12, 2024 by
CPI
Australia Targets Big Tech with New Fines for Misinformation
Sep 12, 2024 by
CPI
Mastercard to Acquire Cybersecurity Firm Recorded Future for $2.65 Billion
Sep 12, 2024 by
CPI
Ireland Prime Minister: Apple’s €13 Billion Payment Could Fund Housing and Capital Projects
Sep 12, 2024 by
CPI
Regulators Probe Swisscom’s $8.8 Billion Vodafone Italia Deal
Sep 12, 2024 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – Canada & Mexico
Sep 3, 2024 by
CPI
Competitive Convergence: Mexico’s 30-Year Quest for Antitrust Parity with its Northern Neighbor
Sep 3, 2024 by
Francisco Javier Núñez Melgoza
Competition and Digital Markets in North America: A Comparative Study of Antitrust Investigations in Mexico and the United States
Sep 3, 2024 by
Julio Garcia
Recent Antitrust Development in Mexico: COFECE’s Preliminary Report on Amazon and Mercado Libre
Sep 3, 2024 by
Alejandra Palacios Prieto
The Cost of Making COFECE Disappear
Sep 3, 2024 by
Mateo Fernández