Antitrust in Health Care

Schedule

All times listed are Eastern Time (ET).

Wednesday, October 7, 2026

12:00-12:15 PM

Welcome and Introductions

Christine White, AHLA President, EVP, Chief Legal Officer and General Counsel, Westchester Medical Center

12:15-1:15 PM

1. Antitrust Litigation for Health Care Providers: Avoiding Risks and Finding Opportunities

Stacy Bratcher, SVP and Chief Legal Officer, Cottage Health
Jason Levine, Foley & Lardner LLP
Ryan Phair, Paul Hastings

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Antitrust litigation is increasingly a common consideration for health care providers — whether pursuing affirmative claims or defending against private and government antitrust suits. This session will cover what in-house counsel should know about recent cases, risks and risk mitigation, and opportunities for turning the legal department into a revenue generator:

Practical considerations for bringing affirmative antitrust claims against vendors, payors and others, including the use of litigation financing.
Strategies for proactive risk management/avoidance of antitrust claims and tactics for successfully defending antitrust suits.
Providing an overview of typical antitrust claims impacting health care providers, including claims involving different levels of the supply chain (manufacturers, GPOs, payers, labor markets).
Current trends in health care antitrust litigation and enforcement, including predictions about the practical impacts on providers.

1:30-2:45 PM

2. From Safety Zones to Gray Zones: Compliance in Health Care Collaborations in an Era of Regulatory Reset

Peter Herrick, O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Jason Premus, Deputy General Counsel, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey
Jason Yan, O'Melveny & Myers LLP

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Background and Historical Framework: An overview of the 2000 Antitrust Guidelines for Collaborations Among Competitors and the FTC/DOJ health care antitrust enforcement policy statements (1993-2011), which established antitrust “safe harbors” and “safety zones” for provider collaborations—including information sharing, physician network joint ventures, and accountable care organizations—and their outsized role in shaping compliance and deal-making across the health care industry for over three decades.
The Rescissions and Their Impact: The FTC/DOJ’s 2023 withdrawal of the health care policy statements and the FTC/DOJ’s December 2024 withdrawal of the 2000 Collaboration Guidelines, the agencies’ stated rationale, and the resulting guidance vacuum confronting health care industry participants and antitrust practitioners.
The New RFI and What It Signals for Antitrust Compliance: The FTC/DOJ’s February 2026 Request for Information seeking public comment on updated competitor collaboration guidelines, notable themes from comments submitted during the now-closed RFI period, what the new guidance could mean for both health care M&A and collaboration in light of evolving case law on algorithmic pricing, revenue management products, and information exchange, and practical principles for evaluating collaborations.
The Road Ahead for Health Care Collaborations: The panel will address all of these issues and ongoing developments and give practical guidance on their implications for the health care industry.

3:00-4:15 PM

3. Payor Contracting Antitrust Pitfalls for Hospitals, Hospital Systems, and Other Provider Organizations

William Efron, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer LLP
Ryan Kantor, Morgan Lewis

Thursday, October 8, 2026

12:00-1:00 PM

4. Managing Antitrust Risks in Health Care Transactions

Christi Braun, Chief Legal and Compliance Officer, IKS Health
Katie Funk, Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC

1:15-2:15 PM

5. All Bark and No Bite? How State Pre-Transaction Notification Laws Stack Up

Wendy Arends, Partner, Husch Blackwell LLP

2:30-3:30 PM

6. Merge or Bust: Acquisitions of Failing and Flailing Hospitals

Lisl Dunlop, Partner, Axinn
Margaret E. Guerin-Calvert, FTI Consulting
Elizabeth Odette, Assistant Attorney General, Minnesota Attorney General's Office

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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.

3:45-4:45 PM

7. Legal Ethics and AI

Speaker(s) TBD