Matter Number
V150005
Summary
FTC staff submitted a comment to New York Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer and New York Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti regarding the possible effects of a legislative proposal that would authorize Erie County Medical Center Corporation and Westchester County Health Care Corporation to collaborate with other public and private health care providers and payers. The proposed legislation would provide them and their collaborating entities with broad immunity from liability under federal and state antitrust laws – even though this purported immunity would cover the kinds of information sharing and joint contract negotiation that are likely to result in reduced competition and higher prices for consumers. “Because procompetitive or competitively benign health care collaborations already are permissible under the antitrust laws, the main effect of this legislation is to immunize conduct that would not generate efficiencies that are greater than consumer harms, and therefore would not pass muster under the antitrust laws,” the staff comment stated.