Keeping Hospital Market Competitive Is an Uphill Battle for FTC

The Federal Trade Commission has won every case it has brought against hospital mergers, but its enforcement is only capturing a fraction of the consolidation happening in the industry.

Strict antitrust laws and a lack of resources mean the agency can only go after the most obvious anticompetitive hospital mergers, but new research on deals across markets could allow the agency to branch out, antitrust attorneys and economists say.

The discussion comes as Democratic FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter is urging the agency to be more aggressive about going after hospital and clinic consolidation and lawmakers are preparing a hearing on ...