As review escalates, DOJ announces formation of Healthcare Monopolies and Cooperation Task Force | Proskauer – Health Care Law Digest

The US Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced the creation of the Healthcare Monopolies and Cooperation Task Force (“HCMC Task Force”) aimed at resolving antitrust issues in the healthcare industry. Specifically, the KLP Task Force will focus on investigating issues related to the quality of patient care, consolidations between health care entities, workforce and employment, and data access and misuse. He will further promote DOJ public policy regarding the need for and benefits of maintaining competition in health care. The mandate of the HCMC Task Force is broad and extends to the review, not only of direct providers of healthcare services, but also of companies working with healthcare data and healthcare technology.

The HCMC Task Force will bring together healthcare experts, accountants, investigators, civil and criminal prosecutors, economists, data scientists and policy advisors from across the DOJ Antitrust Division to identify and address antitrust issues in healthcare markets health. In the announcement, Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement for the DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Katrina Rouse, stated: “The task force will identify and root out monopolies and collusive practices that increase costs, decrease quality and create single points of failure in the industry. health care. .” Secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Xavier Becerra, agreed, reminding the public that “[c]Competition helps ensure that patients have access to high-quality, lower-cost care and that health care workers receive higher wages and work in better conditions … and it saves taxpayers money.”

The formation of the HCMC Task Force follows the launch of HealthyCompetition.gov, a public online portal to report antitrust violations to the DOJ, HHS and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”). This public portal allows businesses and individuals to alert the DOJ and FTC of such anticompetitive conduct, including, for example, alleged cases of illegal bundling, price gouging, and collusion among competitors. Information obtained by the DOJ and FTC may provide a basis for investigation.

Additionally, last March, the DOJ, HHS, and FTC launched an intergovernmental investigation into the perceived increasing control by private equity of the health care industry. The agencies have collectively examined the effect of private capital involvement on patient outcomes, prices, employee benefits and wages, and innovation in health care. FTC Chair Lina Khan said that, “[t]Through this investigation, the FTC will continue to scrutinize private equity pools, skimming and flipping tactics, and other financial games that can enrich executives but leave the American public worse off. The agencies issued a Request for Information seeking comment on transactions between health systems, insurers, facilities and private equity funds. The comment period, which closed on May 6, resulted in more than 1,600 public comments. Proskauer has the knowledge, experience and expertise to help healthcare stakeholders understand and navigate the law’s implications and regulators’ enforcement priorities in this era of increased scrutiny.

[View source.]