Scrutiny on Anticompetitive Laws and Regulations
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has launched an “Anticompetitive Regulations Task Force”. The mission of this Task Force is to identify and eliminate anticompetitive state and federal laws and regulations that undermine free market competition. The creation of the Task Force follows an executive order issued by President Trump whereby he directed federal agencies to seek out and look for ways to reduce regulatory burdens and barriers to entry that impede private enterprise. Interestingly, the health care industry is one of five stated areas of focus for the Task Force. The Task Force has asked for public comment to identify any “unnecessary barriers to competition”.
Similarly, President Trump issued an executive order specifically directing the Federal Trade Commission to issue a request for information seeking public input to help identify and reduce anticompetitive regulatory barriers. The FTC has since issued this request for information.
Comments are due to the DOJ and FTC by May 27th.
Historically within the confines of the health care industry, laws and regulations such as certificate of need and other licensure requirements have been viewed as significant limitations to competition. However, many of these oft cited “barriers to entry” are state-specific and not within the purview of the federal government. It remains to be seen what actions or tools the DOJ or FTC may have or use to influence what are otherwise laws that are outside of their respective jurisdictions.
