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At least 15 states have enacted laws that are meant to keep a private equity firm from rolling up too many of the same kind of health care provider practice, according to a team of health care deal law experts at Goodwin.
John Goheen and colleagues found that those states have addressed concerns about roll-ups by creating state versions of the federal Hart-Scott Rodino antitrust review law.
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The "mini-HSR" laws require some parties involved in health care transactions to notify state regulators.
Many states are always trying to keep private equity firms from overpowering the doctors and dentists in the health care practices they buy by putting restrictions on corporations' ability to practice medicine or dentistry, the Goodwin team reports.
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State interest in health care dealmaking seems to be increasing, and health care deal restriction proposals have appeared in at least 12 states this year, the team says.
California, for example, has three health care bills in the pipeline. One bill would affect California-based organizations that negotiate acquisitions in California and file federal antitrust notices. The California-based buyers, and some other buyers with large operations in California, would have to file copies of any federal antitrust notices with California's attorney general.
Another California bill would prohibit private equity firms and hedge funds from interfering with the professional judgment of physicians or dentists in California.
The Goodwin team suggests that the administration of President Donald Trump could ease up on antitrust oversight in the health care market, but there are early signs that the administration will keep up pressure on health care practice buyers.
The U.S. Justice Department announced last week that it's seeking public comments on a new effort to use antitrust laws to increase competition in the health care sector.
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Allison Bell
Allison Bell, a senior reporter at ThinkAdvisor and BenefitsPRO, previously was an associate editor at National Underwriter Life & Health. She has a bachelor's degree in economics from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in journalism from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She can be reached through X at @Think_Allison.
