FTC, DOJ, HHS launch health care antitrust portal for unfair competition 'complaints'
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission, Justice Department, and the Department of Health and Human Services launched an easily accessible online portal for the public to report health care practices that may harm competition.
Consumers now will find it easier to report anticompetitive health-care practices to federal agencies. The Federal Trade Commission and Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services on Thursday launched an online portal, HealthyCompetiton.gov.
“All too often, we hear how unfair methods of competition and monopolistic practices may be depriving Americans of access to affordable, high-quality health care,” FTC Chair Lina M. Khan said. “This joint initiative among FTC, DOJ and HHS will provide a crucial channel for the agencies to hear from the public, bolstering our work to check illegal business practices that harm consumers and workers alike.”
The portal enables the public to report potentially unfair and anticompetitive health-care practices to the FTC and the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division. Complaints must be specific to health-care competition, according to the website. The federal agencies will not consider complaints about failure to pay claims or about coverage, insurance rates, billing disputes “or general unhappiness about the health-care system.”
In practice, complaints could be cases in which competing health-care companies collude or price fix; include clauses in their contracts with other parties that limit competition, limit employment options through no-poach or no-solicitation agreements; or roll up numerous smaller entities to reduce competition within a market, the agencies wrote. Other harmful practices of interest could include policies and contracts that limit price transparency or the acquisition and use of large quantities of data.
The agencies said they will protect confidentiality “to the fullest extent possible under the law” and support other relevant whistleblower protections. Consumers are instructed not to include sensitive personal information in their comments but may choose to leave contact information in case the agencies seek additional details.
Staff at the FTC and Justice Department Antitrust Division will provide initial review of complaints. If a complaint raises sufficient concern under antitrust laws or is related to HHS authorities, it will be selected for further investigation by the appropriate agency. This action may lead to the opening of a formal investigation.
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The interagency collaboration comes months after the White House instructed the three agencies to begin working more closely on addressing “corporate greed in health care.” Along with a joint request for information, targeted leadership appointments and widely publicized enforcement actions, the agencies have cooperated on public workshops to better understand how certain players, such as private equity firms, are leveraging their scale and capital to secure profits at the health-care system’s expense.
“Americans depend on competitive health-care markets to provide quality choices and lower costs for coverage,” HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “That’s why we are working to tackle anticompetitive practices in the health-care markets. The Biden-Harris administration and HHS know it is our responsibility to stop monopolistic, anticompetitive practices that undermine the delivery of health care to Americans. The information provided by the public will help to root out these behaviors.”