For Your Information: July 10, 2002 FTC to Host Workshop on Health Care and Competition Law and Policy September
9-10, 2002 - Washington, D.C.
The implications of competition law and policy for health
care financing and delivery are the focus of a Federal Trade Commission workshop to be
held on September 9-10, 2002 in Washington, D.C. The workshop will consider the impact of
competition law and policy on the cost, quality, and availability of health care, and the
incentives for innovation in the field.
Developing and implementing competition policy for health
care raises complex and sensitive issues. The workshop will provide a "snapshot"
of the coverage and delivery markets, and review the results of an empirical study of
antitrust litigation during the past 15 years and the Commission's recent activity in the
area. The goal is to promote dialogue, learning, and consensus-building among all
interested parties (including, but not limited to, the business, consumer, government,
legal, provider, insurer, and health policy/health services/health economics communities).
In addition to officials from the FTC, representatives of these interested parties will be
invited to give their perspective on the following general issues: the effect of
competition law and policy on the health care industry, including the cost, quality, and
availability of goods and services and the incentives for innovation; the current
enforcement environment; the manner in which non-price competition (including, but not
limited to, quality of care) is factored into competition law and policy; the consistency
of competition law and policy with the requirements and incentives created by other
federal and state laws and policies; and whether the 1996 Statements of Antitrust
Enforcement Policy in Health Care jointly issued by the FTC and the Department of Justice
need to be updated.
The two-day workshop will be held on September 9-10, 2002, in
Room 432 at the FTC headquarters, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.
The Commission has approved a Federal Register notice, to be
published shortly, announcing the workshop. The Commission vote was 5-0. Any interested
person may submit written comments responsive to any of the topics to be addressed; such
comments should be submitted no later than September 30, 2002. 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 Competition Law and Policy & Health Care." Electronic
submissions may be sent by electronic mail to hcclp@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. |