One-Two Punch On Hospital Challenges: Is The FTC Down For The Count?

There was a time not long ago when the odds of beating the Federal Trade Commission on a hospital merger antitrust challenge were slim. Two recent defeats, however, may change that some. Late last year, the FTC, in quick succession, mounted antitrust challenges to two pending hospital combinations^[1]: Hershey/Pinnacle in central Pennsylvania, and Advocate/NorthShore in Chicago. Both challenges face serious obstacles following two U.S. District Court decisions rejecting the agency's approach to defining geographic markets. If the agency does not prevail on appeal in one or both of these cases, the antitrust landscape for hospital mergers may change dramatically and accelerate the pace of hospital consolidations.