For
Release: February 26, 2003
FTC/DOJ Release Agenda for
Upcoming Sessions of Joint Health Care Hearings
The Federal Trade Commission
and Department of Justice today released a detailed agenda for
the March/April session of their joint hearings on health care
and competition law and policy along with an outline of the
entirety of the hearings. The websites for the hearings are
located at
http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/ and
http://www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm.
The first set of hearings,
which was previously announced, will be held on February 26-28,
2003 at the FTC Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Avenue,
N.W., Washington D.C.
The second set of hearings,
focusing on hospitals, is scheduled for March 26-28, 2003 and
April 9-11, 2003 at the FTC Conference Center at 601 New Jersey
Avenue, N.W., Washington D.C. On March 26, 2003, the hearings
will examine product and geographic markets for hospitals. On
March 27, 2003, the hearings will focus on single-specialty
hospitals, and hospital contracting practices. On March 28,
2003, the hearings will consider issues in litigating hospital
mergers. On April 9, 2003, the hearings will explore horizontal
networks and vertical arrangements. On April 10, 2003, the
hearings will examine nonprofit status and joint ventures/joint
operating agreements. On April 11, 2003, the hearings will focus
on post-merger conduct.
The third set of hearings, to
be held April 23-25, 2003 and April 30-May 1, 2003, in the Great
Hall at Main Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington,
D.C., will focus on issues involving health insurers.
The fourth set of hearings, to
be held in late-May, 2003, will focus on quality and consumer
information. The fifth set of hearings, to be held during late
June, 2003 will focus on physician issues and non-price
competition.
Specific times and participants
for each of these hearing days will be announced subsequently,
along with a detailed agenda for two additional months of
hearings, to be held during July 2003 and September 2003.
As noted in the Federal
Register notice announcing this event, any interested person may
submit written comments responsive to any of the topics to be
addressed. 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 may be submitted at any time after the
publication of this notice, but no later than November 28, 2003.
Written comments should be
submitted in both hard copy and electronic form. Six hard copies
of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark,
Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions
should be captioned: "Comments Regarding Hearings on Health Care
and Competition Law and Policy." Electronic submissions may be
sent by electronic mail to
healthcare@ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions
may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label stating
the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word
processing program used to create the document.
Information about the health
care hearings is available on the Web sites for the hearings,
www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcarehearings/
or
www.usdoj.gov/atr/hchearing.htm
and from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Angela Wilson
is the staff assistant for the hearings. She may be reached by
e-mail at: awilson@ftc.gov
or 202-326-3190. |