Federal Trade Commission news from FierceHealthcare
News
Federal bill would drop antitrust exemption for health, malpractice insurers
A new bill has been introduced in the Senate that would repeal the antitrust exemption health and medical insurers currently enjoy. The bill, which is backed by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), would... Read more...
Pressured by FTC, Carilion Clinic agrees to sell outpatient centers
Moving to quickly end a dispute with the Federal Trade Commission, which objected to its acquisition of two outpatient centers, Roanoke, VA-based Carilion Clinic has reached a tentative settlement... Read more...
Medical identity theft protections to take effect next month
About 250,000 times per year, a thief uses someone else's personal identity information--such as their name, Social Security number and date of birth--to bill medical services to an unsuspecting... Read more...
'Pay for delay' pharma deals cost consumers $3.5B a year
It's known as "pay for delay": the practice under which brand drugmakers pay generics manufacturers to put off the introduction of competing products. Pay-for-delay has come under intense scrutiny of... Read more...
CA medical practice agrees to FTC deal over price-fixing charges
California's Alta Bates Medical Group has agreed to a consent order from the Federal Trade Commission, settling charges that its methods of negotiating with fee-for-service contracts payers for... Read more...
Antitrust laws could hobble healthcare reform
A couple of weeks ago, President Obama and several major interest groups announced that they'd be able to cut $2 trillion off of the growth in healthcare spending over the next decade. That sounds... Read more...
FTC to allow joint contracting by TriState Health Partners in MD
The Federal Trade Commission believes that a plan for clinical integration proposed by TriState Health Partners--a hospital organization based out of Maryland--and Washington County Health System,... Read more...
Healthcare spending growth slows; White House to target 'pay for delay' pharma deals;
> CMS is projecting that the growth in national healthcare spending will slow in 2009, but will nonetheless continue to grow faster than the economy given the current recession. Article > The... Read more...
U.S. DoJ slams CON laws
This week, officials from the U.S. Department of Justice are expected to tell Illinois officials what they've told officials in other states--that they think CON laws are best eliminated. Both the... Read more...
FTC slams IL physicians' retail clinic rules
In a move that could set back national physician efforts to control the evolution of retail clinics, the Federal Trade Commission has labeled retail clinic regs backed by Illinois doctors as... Read more...
