Congress urged to improve FTC antitrust enforcement in hospital sector

The Federal Trade Commission’s decision to challenge, with the attorney general of Pennsylvania, the proposed union of Thomas Jefferson University hospital network and Albert Einstein Healthcare Network frustrates the ability of these two non-profit hospital systems to “bring about higher quality, greater access and more stability of health care services to some of the most vulnerable patient populations in the Philadelphia region,” AHA told congressional leaders yesterday. “Now the FTC is trying to stop efforts to ensure the sustainability of providing essential health care services to the most vulnerable communities,” AHA wrote leaders of the House and Senate Judiciary subcommittees of jurisdiction. “It is time for members of Congress and other policymakers to make clear that antitrust enforcement in the hospital sector needs to account for all relevant factors,” in particular “the long-term viability of health care facilities and their ability to provide quality and reliable healthcare and access to all members of communities.”