Final week the Federal Commerce Fee (FTC) issued a press launch highlighting latest and forthcoming actions by the FTC, Division of Justice (DOJ), and the Division of Well being and Human Providers (HHS), which they are saying will additional promote competitors, thereby reducing prices and rising the standard of care within the U.S. well being care market. Along with highlighting latest actions by every of the companies (e.g., the FTC’s proposed non-compete rule), the discharge states that the three companies are coming into into new partnerships to extend interagency cooperation and advance a “whole-of-government” method to guard well being care competitors, together with:

• A joint Request for Data issued by the three companies looking for enter into how private-equity corporations and different companies’ “management of well being care” impacts People.
• A partnership between the three companies to share knowledge that can “assist establish probably anticompetitive transactions which may in any other case evade evaluation.” This might result in scrutiny of transactions that aren’t reportable below the Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.
• The creation and appointment of a brand new “Counsel for Well being Care” at every company that can lead interagency and coverage efforts on well being care competitors.
• The continuation of a partnership between the DOJ and HHS’s Workplace of the Inspector Basic, memorialized late final 12 months, that goals to extend coordination between the DOJ and HHS OIG to make use of the antitrust legal guidelines and OIG’s exclusion authorities to strengthen enforcement of federal legislation.

Within the launch FTC Chair Lina Khan, Assistant Lawyer Basic Jonathan Kanter of the DOJ Antitrust Division, and Secretary Xavier Becerra every affirm their dedication to sustaining competitors in well being care markets and making well being care extra inexpensive and accessible for People.

This serves as yet one more reminder that well being care continues to be a precedence for not simply antitrust enforcers, however for the federal authorities writ giant, and that firms within the well being care business ought to anticipate continued or elevated scrutiny from federal enforcement companies.