FTC Dismisses Complaint Challenging Merger of Cabell Huntington Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center

The Federal Trade Commission has voted to dismiss without prejudice its administrative complaint challenging the proposed merger between Cabell Huntington Hospital and St. Mary’s Medical Center – two hospitals located three miles apart in Huntington, West Virginia.

The FTC’s administrative complaint, issued in November 2015, alleged that the proposed merger violated U.S. antitrust law. The Commission voted to dismiss the complaint in light of the passage in March 2016 of a new West Virginia law relating to certain “cooperative agreements” between hospitals in that state, and the West Virginia Health Care Authority’s decision to approve a cooperative agreement between the hospitals, with which the West Virginia Attorney General concurred. Cooperative agreement laws seek to replace antitrust enforcement with state regulation and supervision of healthcare provider combinations.

“This case presents another example of healthcare providers attempting to use state legislation to shield potentially anticompetitive combinations from antitrust enforcement,” the Commission wrote in a statement. “The Commission believes that state cooperative agreement laws such as SB 597 are likely to harm communities through higher healthcare prices and lower healthcare quality.”

The Commission statement notes that proponents of cooperative agreement laws claim that antitrust enforcement undermines the policy goals of the Affordable Care Act to improve quality and lower costs through greater coordination among healthcare providers. “This is fundamentally incorrect,” the Commission wrote. “The ACA did not repeal the antitrust laws, and it certainly does not condone mergers that substantially lessen competition.”

The Commission further states, “we will continue to vigorously investigate and, where appropriate, challenge anticompetitive mergers in the courts and, if necessary, through state cooperative agreement processes. Our decision to dismiss this complaint without prejudice does not necessarily mean that we will do the same in other cases in which a cooperative agreement is sought or approved.”

The Commission vote to approve the Commission statement and withdraw the administrative complaint was 3-0.  

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition, and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about how competition benefits consumers or file an antitrust complaint. Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

IR Press

Share
Published by
IR Press

Recent Posts

Treasury Issues Final Rule Expanding CFIUS Coverage of Real Estate Transactions Around More Than 60 Military Installations

WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (Treasury), as Chair of the Committee…

4 days ago

U.S. Department of the Treasury’s CDFI Fund and Federal Housing Finance Agency Collaborate to Bolster CDFI Access to Capital

WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund (CDFI Fund) and…

4 days ago

Report on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities at Year-End 2023

Washington – The findings from the annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities…

5 days ago

READOUT: U.S. Department of the Treasury Hosts Roundtable Discussion on the Financial Sector’s Response to Recent Hurricanes

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury hosted a roundtable on October 30 with…

5 days ago

READOUT: Sixth Meeting of the Financial Working Group Between the United States and the People’s Republic of China

WASHINGTON – The United States and the People’s Republic of China held the sixth meeting…

5 days ago

Treasury Sanctions Key Members of La Linea, a Group Involved in Trafficking Fentanyl into the United States

WASHINGTON — Today, the Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned…

5 days ago