The Federal Trade Commission has launched a public inquiry into the effect of federal regulations on competition to identify and reduce anticompetitive regulatory hurdles.
Seven things to know:
1. The inquiry follows President Donal Trump’s April 9 executive order on reducing anticompetitive regulatory barriers, which aims to eliminate regulations that “reduce competition, entrepreneurship and innovation — as well as the benefits they create for American consumers.”
2. Per the executive order, the FTC said it will be on the “front lines of advancing the president’s agenda to revitalize the American economy.” The FTC plans to identify unnecessary regulations that exclude new market entrants, protect dominant incumbents and predetermine economic winners and losers.
3. The FTC has issued a request for information seeking public comment on how federal regulations can harm competition. Members of the public — including consumers, workers, businesses, startups, potential market entrants, investors and academics — are encouraged to provide their feedback.
4. The public has until May 27 to submit comments, which will be published on regulations.gov.
5. The Justice Department also has launched an anticompetitive regulations task force to identify and eliminate federal and state regulations that hinder market competition.
6. Healthcare is one of the key sectors identified by the DOJ as particularly affected by regulatory burdens. The agency highlighted that certain laws and regulations may discourage hospitals, physicians and other providers from offering low-cost, high-quality care, instead incentivizing consolidation or practices that raise costs and reduce patient access.
7. Hospital leaders may recognize these dynamics in certificate of need laws, reimbursement rules, or other structural policies that can constrain market entry, service expansion or clinical innovation, according to the agency. While these regulations may be designed to promote safety or manage capacity, the DOJ argues some may now serve primarily to protect incumbents and suppress competition.
