Thursday, July 15, 2021
Introduction
President Biden recently issued an executive order affirming his administration’s policy of enforcing the antitrust laws to “combat the excessive consolidation of industry” and cited healthcare markets as one of several priorities. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and US Department of Justice (DOJ) already have been actively enforcing the antitrust laws in provider consolidation matters. The FTC is currently challenging the proposed merger of two health systems in New Jersey, and in the past year unsuccessfully challenged the combination of Jefferson Health and Einstein Health in Philadelphia and successfully challenged the proposed combination of two health systems (Methodist Le Bonheur and Saint Francis) in Memphis.
To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog:
On July 9, 2021, President Biden signed an Executive Order seeking to curtail the use of non-compete agreements and other terms of employment that arguably limit worker mobility an area of employment law that has traditionally been regulated by the states, not the federal government. The Order is not a mandate, but rather a roadmap that appears to be a policy directive only.
By its own terms, the Order does not[] create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party . . . . All eyes will be on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the agency tasked with defining what, if any, non-compete agreements may be deemed unenforceable or anticompetitive.
Major Leadership and Policy Changes at the FTC—What They Mean for Antitrust and Consumer Protection Enforcement in Technology Markets | Davis Wright Tremaine LLP jdsupra.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from jdsupra.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Monday, July 12, 2021
On July 9, 2021, President Joe Biden signed his Executive Order on Promoting Competition in the American Economy (the Order). The Order, one of Biden’s broadest to date, aims “to combat the excessive concentration of industry, the abuses of market power, and the harmful effects of monopoly and monopsony” through increased antitrust enforcement, rulemaking, and cooperation within the administration.
The Order directs the White House Competition Council to oversee and coordinate efforts between more than 20 Executive-branch departments, agencies, boards, and commissions to accomplish Biden’s goal of protecting and promoting “an open and competitive economy.” While the Order does little to make any immediate changes in law, it strongly “encourages” agencies to “consider” implementing rulemaking and policy changes in accordance with the administration’s agenda. Highlighting the mandate that the president is directing to the agenci
Aspen Skiing
20 that a monopolist has “the right to refuse to deal with other firms”
21 unless “the only conceivable rationale or purpose” for the refusal to deal is “to sacrifice short-term benefits in order to obtain higher profits in the long run from the exclusion of competition.”
22 Judge Boasberg concluded that, in order for a refusal to deal claim to be actionable, it “must involve specific instances in which that policy was enforced (i) against a rival with which the monopolist had a previous course of dealing; (ii) while the monopolist kept dealing with others in the market; (iii) at a short-term profit loss, with no conceivable rationale other than driving a competitor out of business in the long run.”