Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1416329
61 HEALTHCARE NEWS Justice Department says health system consolidation 'detrimental to our economy' By Laura Dyrda P resident Joseph Biden attacked anti- competitive acquisitions earlier this year with an executive order to crack down on them, and the Justice Department plans to follow suit. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta spoke at the 15th annual Global Antitrust Enforcement Symposium at Georgetown Law School Sept. 14, emphasizing the de- partment's focus on preventing monopolies and maintaining a competitive economy. "is work is urgently needed," she said. "In many industries, consolidation is greater now than it was even just 20 years ago. For example, today, dominant health systems can approach 50 percent control of a relevant local or regional market. is kind of consolidation can be detrimental to our economy." Ms. Gupta cited the department's efforts to block a merger between Aon and Willis Towers Watson as an example of actions to come. e merger would have le the insurance broker industry with just two dominant players. "e department's success in stopping the merger of Aon and Willis Towers Watson was an important victory," she said. "It is also an important warning sign to compa- nies contemplating similar deals. I know antitrust division officials have said this before, but I hope companies are, in this moment, paying close attention: Anticom- petitive mergers should not make it out of the boardroom. If they do, we will not hesitate to challenge those mergers." e focus on keeping markets competitive could be a boon for independent surgery centers. "Concentrating the power in the hands of a few entities has proven to be bad for healthcare," Adam Bruggeman, MD, a spine surgeon with Texas Spine Care in San Antonio, told Becker's. "ASCs are a dynamic space that have multiple potential purchas- ers and operators. I don't think there will be a reduction in quality for ASCs, and the continued scrutiny will benefit ASC growth." As an early test of the executive order, Marion (Ill.) HealthCare, a multispecialty ASC, filed a lawsuit July 29 to challenge Carbondale-based Southern Illinois Hospital Service's planned acquisition of Harrisburg (Ill.) Medical Center. Marion argued in its suit that the merger would give Southern Illinois Hospital Service a monopoly in the market, raise healthcare costs and make it more challenging for the center to recruit physicians. Some ASC leaders anticipate the increased scrutiny on healthcare mergers will spark a flurry of acquisitions in the coming months to get ahead of the curve. "Hospital systems acquiring ambulatory centers will become more prominent, as they will want to have control over the number of competitive entities that threaten their elective surgical volume," said Tracy Helmer, administrator of Seven Hills ASC in Henderson, Nev. "e ASC will always remain the cost-conscious, and in some cases, significantly safer alternative than the hospital setting. e only option that hospital systems have is to scoop up the competition, if possible." n K E Y N OT E S November 15 - 17, 2021 Hyatt Regency, Chicago, Illinois November 18-23, 2021 Virtual Event 9 TH ANNUAL CEO + CFO ROUNDTABLE