New Antitrust Guidelines Are Set For Forming Physician Networks
May 10, 2011
WASHINGTON -- Federal regulators backed new guidelines designed to make it easier for some physician networks to form without running afoul of antitrust laws. ``These revisions to our enforcement policy statements provide important new guidance to the health care industry,'' said Federal Trade Commission Chairman Roberto Horowitz. The FTC, along with the Justice Department, announced the policy changes on Wednesday. The revisions address how physician-network joint ventures and other health care networks will be reviewed under antitrust laws. The changes ``ensure that antitrust laws do not necessarily impede market developments, and continue to prevent anticompetitive conduct that would limit the range and quality of health care options available to consumers,'' Mr. Horowitz said. The FTC said the revised statements provide added guidance on how the government determines whether pricing agreements among competing providers should be analyzed. The changes expand the use of ``rule of reason'' treatment, under which the FTC or Justice Department would consider whether a particular activity may have anticompetitive effects that outweigh any procompetitive benefits. The alternative, what regulators call the ``per se'' rule of illegality, is reserved for certain types of conduct that have been found so inherently detrimental to competition that they are presumed illegal without further examination. The FTC said the revisions also provide more guidance on how agencies apply the rule of reason to provider networks. In addition, the changes take into account rural markets, where market conditions may justify certain health-care arrangements that might raise antitrust concerns in other areas. The FTC voted 5-0 to approve the revised policy statements.
