The Task Force on Health Care Monopolies and Collusion will guide the department’s enforcement strategy in the industry, according to a May 9 news release. The task force will guide policy advocacy, investigations and criminal and civil enforcement.
Katrina Rouse, who has served as an antitrust prosecutor with the Justice Department since 2011, will lead the task force. She is the antitrust division’s deputy director of civil enforcement and special counsel for healthcare.
The task force will “identify and root out monopolies and collusive practices that increase costs, decrease quality and create single points of failure in the healthcare industry,” Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter said in the release.
The Justice Department has signaled it intends to ramp up its enforcement of antitrust laws in healthcare. Doha Mekki, principal deputy assistant attorney general and the department’s second highest-ranking antitrust official, said the department is “becoming more lucid to under-enforcement in healthcare,” Bloomberg reported May 8.
In March, several government agencies launched an inquiry into the effects of private equity on healthcare. The Federal Trade Commission, the Justice Department and HHS are seeking public comment on information on healthcare transactions, including non-reportable deals.
The Justice Department has also launched a probe into UnitedHealth Group, the country’s largest private insurer and largest employer of physicians.
Becker’s 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit is the top tier event that the people leading the future of pharmacy convene. This 3-day event is built specifically for Chief Pharmacy Officers and senior pharmacy leaders. The sessions examine the workforce, financial and clinical priorities shaping pharmacy today. Becker’s is where candid discussions flourish and new ideas thrive. Becker's 3rd Annual Fall Chief Pharmacy Officer Summit
