Skyrocketing Medical Costs Spark Republican Pushback on Deals

Texas Republican James Frank is a small-government conservative who has made it his mission to fight bureaucracy. But when it comes to health care, the North Texas lawmaker is so alarmed by rising costs that he wants greater state oversight of mergers.

“The consolidation in the health-care market is out of control,” said Frank, who introduced legislation this year that would require notice of health-care transactions, including major real estate deals, and empower the attorney general to conduct studies on the market.

James Frank

Photographer: Eric Gay/AP Photo

The Texas bill is part of a broader push playing out in statehouses across the US as ...