A director from the Federal Trade Commission penned a letter to the editor in The New York Times, arguing that the goals of antitrust law are consistent with those of the healthcare reform law.
Martin Gaynor, director of the FTC's Bureau of Economics, wrote the letter to the editor in response to a Feb. 5 column written by Eduardo Porter. Mr. Porter interviewed several sources in the column, which was centered on the idea that antitrust law may inhibit the goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
For instance, that column featured insight from Jonathan Gruber, an economist from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. He said there is tension between the PPACA and antitrust law, or more specifically, the benefits of coordinated care and possible consequences of market power. In the column, he said the ideal arrangements might be those that are "easily unwindable," in case the FTC orders divestiture.
In his letter to the editor, Mr. Gaynor said enforcement of antitrust law will not conflict with the healthcare reform law's goals. Rather, "the goal of the antitrust laws is entirely consistent with the health law's objective to foster new and innovative forms of healthcare delivery," he wrote.
He said the FTC does protect consumers from anticompetitive arrangements, but it does not stand in the way of providers finding new ways of coordinating and improving care.
"The FTC has challenged only a handful of the hundreds of mergers, acquisitions and new arrangements in the healthcare industry over the last few years," wrote Mr. Gaynor. "Moreover, there are many ways for providers to effectively coordinate care that do not require merger or acquisition or cause competitive concerns."
Mr. Gaynor was quoted in the Feb. 5 column as well, noting that most healthcare markets are already highly concentrated and the FTC is paying attention to consolidation.
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