The U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) recently announced the creation of the Health Care Monopolies and Collusion Task Force (the “HCMC Task Force”) aimed at resolving antitrust issues in the health care industry.  Specifically, the HCMC Task Force will focus on investigating issues related to the quality of patient care, consolidations between health care entities, labor and employment, and access and misuse of data.  It will further promote DOJ’s public policy relating to the need for and benefits of preserving competition in health care.  The HCMC Task Force’s mandate is broad and extends to scrutiny, not only of direct health care service providers, but also of companies that work with health care data and health care technology.

The HCMC Task Force will bring together health care experts, accountants, investigators, civil and criminal prosecutors, economists, data scientists, and policy advisors from across DOJ’s Antitrust Division to identify and address antitrust issues in health care markets.  In the announcement, the Deputy Director of Civil Enforcement for DOJ’s Antitrust Division, Katrina Rouse, stated: “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 health care industry.”  The Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”), Xavier Becerra, agreed, reminding the public that “[c]ompetition helps ensure patients have access to high-quality, lower cost care, and that health care workers receive higher pay and work under better conditions … and saves taxpayers money.”

The formation of the HCMC Task Force comes on the heels of the launch of HealthyCompetition.gov, an online public portal to report antitrust violations to DOJ, HHS, and the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”).  This public portal allows businesses and individuals to alert DOJ and the FTC about such anticompetitive behaviors, including, for example, alleged instances of illegal roll-ups, price-gouging, and collusion amongst competitors.  Information received by DOJ and FTC may then provide a basis for investigation. 

Additionally, this past March, DOJ, HHS, and the FTC launched a cross-government inquiry into the observed increasing control by private equity of the health care industry.  The agencies have been collectively examining the effect of private equity’s involvement on patient outcomes, prices, employee benefits and wages, and innovation in health care.  FTC Chair Lina Khan stated that, “[t]hrough this inquiry the FTC will continue scrutinizing private equity roll-ups, strip-and-flip tactics, and other financial plays that can enrich executives but leave the American public worse off.”  The agencies issued a Request for Information seeking comments on transactions between health systems, insurers, facilities, and private equity funds.  The comment period, which closed on May 6, resulted in more than 1,600 public comments. Proskauer has the knowledge, experience, and expertise to help health care stakeholders understand and navigate the implications of the law and the enforcement priorities of regulators in this era of increased scrutiny.

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Photo of Whitney Phelps Whitney Phelps

Whitney Phelps provides practical and strategic counsel, solutions and analysis for healthcare stakeholders of all kinds. She has particular expertise in managed care and value-based contracting, including with various alternative payment arrangements between providers and payers. Her experience includes advising on a broad…

Whitney Phelps provides practical and strategic counsel, solutions and analysis for healthcare stakeholders of all kinds. She has particular expertise in managed care and value-based contracting, including with various alternative payment arrangements between providers and payers. Her experience includes advising on a broad range of complex healthcare transactions and regulatory matters relating to long-term care, home care, behavioral health, risk contracting and ambulatory services.

Whitney has deep capabilities negotiating complex joint ventures and other transactions, with special attention to New York regulatory compliance. Whitney also has extensive experience representing health care entities before the New York State Executive Branch, including with respect to shaping health care policy and Medicaid redesign, as well as laws and regulations impacting regulated healthcare entities in New York.

Whitney also served as Director of Managed Care and Associate Counsel at the Healthcare Association of New York State.

Photo of John R. Ingrassia John R. Ingrassia

John is a partner at the Firm, advising on the full range of foreign investment and antitrust matters across industries, including chemicals, pharmaceutical, medical devices, telecommunications, financial services consumer goods and health care. He is the first call clients make in matters relating…

John is a partner at the Firm, advising on the full range of foreign investment and antitrust matters across industries, including chemicals, pharmaceutical, medical devices, telecommunications, financial services consumer goods and health care. He is the first call clients make in matters relating to competition and antitrust, CFIUS or foreign investment issues.

For more than 25 years, John has counselled businesses facing the most challenging antitrust issues and helped them stay out of the crosshairs — whether its distribution, pricing, channel management, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, or price gouging compliance.

John’s practice focuses on the analysis and resolution of CFIUS and antitrust issues related to mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures, and the analysis and assessment of pre-merger CFIUS and HSR notification requirements. He advises clients on issues related to CFIUS national security reviews, and on CFIUS submissions when non-U.S. buyers seek to acquire U.S. businesses that have national security sensitivities.  He also regularly advises clients on international antitrust issues arising in proposed acquisitions and joint ventures, including reportability under the EC Merger Regulation and numerous other foreign merger control regimes.

His knowledge, reputation and extensive experience with the legal, practical, and technical requirements of merger clearance make him a recognized authority on Hart-Scott-Rodino antitrust merger review. John is regularly invited to participate in Federal Trade Commission and bar association meetings and takes on the issues of the day.

Photo of Timothy E. Burroughs Timothy E. Burroughs

Tim Burroughs is an associate in the Litigation Department.

Tim earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School, where he was the Executive Student Writing Editor for the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and Teaching Assistant for the legal writing program. While at Vanderbilt…

Tim Burroughs is an associate in the Litigation Department.

Tim earned his J.D. from Vanderbilt Law School, where he was the Executive Student Writing Editor for the Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law and Teaching Assistant for the legal writing program. While at Vanderbilt, Tim interned at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and published his student note on international anti-money laundering regulation in the fine-art market.

Prior to law school, Tim taught elementary school in the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn for three years as part of Teach for America.

Photo of Precious L. Penny Precious L. Penny

Precious Penny is an associate in the Corporate Department and a member of the Registered Funds Group.