Schedule

Health care transactions are on the rise, complicated by rising financial pressures, intense regulatory crackdowns, and an influx of private equity. Antitrust has emerged as a major health care regulatory issue that counsel must navigate when negotiating and guiding a health care merger to completion. The session will discuss:

• The key federal and state antitrust developments affecting health care transactions.
• How antitrust concerns interface with other important regulatory issues.
• Best practices for identifying antitrust issues, developing antitrust defenses, and coordinating antitrust and other reviews.
• How to manage antitrust concerns in the diligence, negotiation, and pre-close phases.

The trendy new legal kid on the block — state pre-transaction notification laws — have been touted by their enacting states as a tool to potentially reduce consolidation in health care, lower costs, and improve access to care. But how do they measure up — are they a flash in the pan, a bureaucratic dystopia, or achieving their goals? This panel will discuss:

• Various state pre-transaction notification laws and what they have (or have not yet) achieved in terms of their stated goals.
• How the state pre-transaction notification laws intersect with antitrust law.
• Practical considerations when considering a multi-state health care transaction.

Acquisitions of distressed hospitals — many of them rural health systems — have become a frequent focus of antitrust regulatory review by states and the FTC. This program will discuss the "failing firm defense" in antitrust merger review, exploring the key elements of the defense from case law and the merger guidelines, recent notable examples, and recommendations for developing a sustainable defense. Speakers will include an economist and, potentially, in-house counsel for a hospital system involved in such a transaction or a representative from the FTC.