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Public Hearings
Antitrust Division

Health Care and Competition Law and Policy

Hearings Information

The Antitrust Division and the Federal Trade Commission will cohost hearings on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy beginning in February 2003. This page provides information on:

Related Document: Improving Health Care: A Dose of Competition - A Report by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice (07/2004)

For more information, contact David Kelly, Litigation I Section (david.kelly@usdoj.gov or 202-616-9447).


Overview

These Health Care and Competition Law and Policy hearings mark the beginning of an extended examination of the state of the health care marketplace and the roles of competition, antitrust enforcement, and consumer protection in satisfying consumer preferences for high-quality, cost-effective health care. This is only the second set of hearings ever hosted by the Antitrust Division.

The Division and the FTC plan to hold three to five days of hearings per month between March and October 2003, exclusive of August 2003. The agencies anticipate that the hearings will culminate with the preparation of a comprehensive joint report.


Issues for Consideration

Specific topics that will be covered in subsequent months include the following:

  • Hospital mergers
  • Health plans, including the following subtopics:
    • Consolidation and market power
    • Tacit or explicit coordination between plans
    • Costs and impediments to entry into these markets
    • Monopsony power obtained and exercised against providers
  • Non-profit status and its significance
  • Vertical arrangements
  • Quality and efficiency
  • The Noerr-Pennington and state action doctrines
  • Existing remedies for anticompetitive conduct

Dates, Locations, and Topics

Information for each month appears on a separate page:

Hearings will be held at the Federal Trade Commission Conference Center, 601 New Jersey Avenue in Washington, D.C., unless otherwise noted.


Press Releases


Speeches


Federal Register Notices

FTC: Notice of Public Hearings [67 FR 68672 (11/12/2002)]


Submitting Comments

Any interested person may submit written comments responsive to any of the topics addressed during the hearings. Comments directed at a particular subject considered during a particular session of hearings must be submitted no later than 45 days after the date of that specific hearing session. Comments on broader subjects within the general scope of the hearings must be submitted no later than November 28, 2003. Written comments must be submitted in both hardcopy and electronic forms.

Hardcopy: Use the following caption on each submission: “Comments Regarding Health Care and Competition Law and Policy”

Mail six copies of each submission to:
Donald S. Clark
Office of the Secretary
Federal Trade Commission
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20580

Electronic: E-mail electronic submissions to
healthcare@ftc.gov

You may also file electronic submissions on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk. The disk must include a label indicating both the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word processing software used to create the document.


Related Internet Site

FTC Hearings Site: Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice Hearings on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy


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