FTC Urges States to Avoid Hospital Merger Antitrust Shield Laws

The Federal Trade Commission urged states to avoid adopting laws that would shield some health care providers’ mergers and acquisitions from antitrust oversight.

The FTC’s staff policy paper, released Monday, outlines the commission’s concerns with state adoption of Certificates of Public Advantage, or COPAs, a state-issue authorization that exempts some hospital mergers from antitrust scrutiny if state agencies determine the deal’s benefits outweigh the detriments.

But COPAs often resulted in hospital monopolies that decrease wages and drive up costs, despite their intention of lowering prices, the FTC said. Hospitals with substantial market power enjoy negotiating leverage with health insurers ...