FTC Releases Agenda for Health Care and Competition Law and Policy Workshop to be Held September 9-10, 2002, in Washington, D.C.

The Federal Trade Commission has released an agenda for the workshop on competition law and policy for health care financing and delivery, which will be held on September 9-10, 2002, in Washington, D.C. The workshop will consider the impact of competition law and policy on the cost, quality, and availability of health care, and the incentives for innovation in the field. The agenda is available at the Web page for the workshop, which can be found at http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcare/index.htm.

The workshop will feature presentations by representatives of various branches of the federal agencies and state governments and a number of academics. There also will be panel discussions on each of the following subjects: 1) Health Care Services: Provider Integration; 2) Health Insurance: Payor/Provider Issues; 3) Hospital Group Purchasing Organizations; 4) Generics and Branded Pharmaceuticals; and 5) Consumer Protection and Pharmaceuticals: Direct-to-Consumer Advertising and Off-Label Promotion. Each panel will have approximately six invited panelists, who will each speak for 10 minutes. During each panel, a moderated discussion will follow the presentations of the panelists. Each panel has been given a series of questions to provide a general framework for presentations and discussion. The questions for each panel are provided on the agenda.

The workshop will last from 9:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. on Monday, September 9, 2002, and from 9:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday, September 10, 2002. The workshop will be held in room 432 at the FTC headquarters, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.

As noted in the Federal Register notice announcing this event, any interested person may submit written comments responsive to any of the topics to be addressed; such comments should be submitted no later than September 30, 2002. Written comments should be submitted in both hard copy and electronic form. Six hard copies of each submission should be addressed to Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions should be captioned: "Comments Regarding Competition Law and Policy & Health Care." Electronic submissions may be sent by electronic mail to hcclp@ftc.gov. Alternatively, electronic submissions may be filed on a 3-1/2 inch computer disk with a label stating the name of the submitter and the name and version of the word processing program used to create the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Hyman, Special Counsel, Office of General Counsel, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Room 568, Washington, D.C. 20580; telephone (202) 326-2622; e-mail: dhyman@ftc.gov. The Web site for the workshop is http://www.ftc.gov/ogc/healthcare/index.htm. Angela Wilson is the staff assistant for the workshop. She may be reached by e-mail at: awilson@ftc.gov or (202) 326-3190. A final agenda, including the names of speakers and panelists, will be posted on the Web site for the workshop shortly.

Copies of the Federal Register notice announcing the workshop are available from the FTC's Web site at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/07/healthcarefrn.htm and also from the FTC's Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580.