No Mandatory Antitrust Review For ACOs

The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission recently issued their final "Statement of Antitrust Enforcement Policy Regarding Accountable Care Organizations Participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program" pursuant to the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The final statement was issued in conjunction with the Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' final regulations implementing the shared savings program as part of a coordinated interagency effort to facilitate health care provider participation in the shared savings program, so as to achieve the cost savings and improvement in quality of care Congress intended. Both the final statement and CMS' final regulations aim to further encourage and incentivize formation of Accountable Care Organizations and participation in the shared savings program. As such, the final statement includes significant, material changes from the proposed statement of