Tag Archives: St. Luke’s litigation

FTC Still Ramping Up Antitrust Review of Health Care Mergers

Photo of Carl HittingerPhoto of Tyson HerroldBy Carl Hittinger and Tyson Herrold on Posted in Healthcare, Merger Review
Last month, we reported on the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) steady filing of injunctions to block what are effectively local mergers of small health care providers. In 2007, the FTC filed suit in Saint Alphonsus Medical Center v. St. Luke’s Health System, its first successful challenge to a hospital merger in recent history. Since then, … Continue Reading

FTC’s Appellate Win Reflects Focus on Health Care Consolidation

Photo of Carl HittingerBy Carl Hittinger and Mitchell Oates on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Articles, FTC Act, Healthcare, Merger
In an important victory for the Federal Trade Commission in the appellate courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently affirmed last year’s decision from the District of Idaho in Saint Alphonsus Medical Center v. St. Luke’s Health System, No. 14-35173, in which the FTC successfully sued to undo a 2012 merger … Continue Reading

“Oh help me, please doctor, I’m damaged”*—What does the Future Hold for Hospital-Physician Acquisitions?

By Jonathan Lewis on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger Review
With the ink still drying on the Ninth Circuit’s opinion affirming the Idaho federal district court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System to unwind its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group—a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho—you may ask what the decision means for other providers?  Hospitals considering future acquisitions of … Continue Reading

Connecticut’s Attorney General Wants to Know in Advance if You Are Going to Join Forces with a Healthcare Provider

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Legislation, Merger Review, Premerger Notification
Back in early 2013, Connecticut’s Attorney General (“AG”) formed a “Health Care Competition Working Group” within his office to examine the potential impact of horizontal mergers (e.g., hospital to hospital) and vertical provider acquisitions (i.e., hospitals buying up physician practices) “may have on the pricing, quality, and access to health care for Connecticut’s consumers and … Continue Reading

FTC Victory in Idaho Hospital-Physician Acquisition Case Should be a Wake-Up Call for Future and Past Deals

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, BakerHostetler, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger
The ink is still drying on the Idaho federal district court’s order requiring St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) to unwind its acquisition of Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho.  But hospitals considering future acquisitions of physician groups, and those that the FTC … Continue Reading

Could an Idaho Healthcare Merger Impact Other Mergers, Including the American/US Airways Merger?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Antitrust Litigation, Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger, Merger Review, Sherman Act 7
With the trial over, post-trial briefs due November 1, and closing arguments scheduled for November 7, a lot more is at stake than whether St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) can keep Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho.  St. Luke’s closed its acquisition … Continue Reading

FTC Healthcare Merger Retrospective Again?

By Jonathan Lewis and Lee Simowitz on Posted in Government Investigations, Healthcare, Merger
Two weeks into the FTC’s and Idaho AG’s antitrust trial challenging hospital system St. Luke’s Health System (“St. Luke’s”) acquisition of the Saltzer Medical Group (“Saltzer”) – a for-profit, physician-owned, multi-specialty group comprising approximately 44 physicians located in Nampa, Idaho – a lot more is at stake than just whether St. Luke’s eventually will be … Continue Reading
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