Health Care

Health Care Mergers

Health Care Mergers

NERA's health economists have been retained to evaluate the likely competitive effects of a variety of proposed mergers and acquisitions in the health care field such as hospitals and health insurers. Over the past several years, NERA has analyzed over 75 hospital mergers and provided strategic advice on choosing merger partners in many more.

NERA has also been called upon to assess the competitive effects of mergers of medical equipment manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, home health care companies, physician practice management companies, manufacturers of clinical diagnostic tests, and ambulance services.
In addition to these horizontal mergers, NERA has worked on mergers that raise concerns about vertical foreclosure. These would include transactions involving insurers and hospitals as well as mergers in the medical equipment industry. We also have written reports and provided advice and testimony on a wide range of cases.

In merger reviews, we have:

  • Analyzed horizontal mergers involving freestanding hospitals, acquisitions involving hospital chains, the formation of hospital networks, joint ventures, joint operating agreements, and strategic alliances;
  • Frequently presented the results of our analyses to staff attorneys and economists at the Federal Trade Commission, the Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and state departments of insurance;
  • Written reports that assess the likely efficiencies associated with horizontal integration and with vertical integration between health insurers, hospitals, and physician groups;
  • Advised state agencies on the types of hospital mergers that are permitted under certificate of public advantage legislation and on the type of monitoring and regulation that would be required post-merger;
  • Assisted in the defense of a hospital accused of monopoly overcharges by demonstrating that its pricing structure and price increases over time have been well within the mainstream of comparable hospitals;
  • Testified on behalf of hospitals in antitrust litigation involving staff privileges or exclusive contracting issues for anesthesia, neonatology, vascular surgery, cardiac surgery, obstetrics, radiology, and cardiology specialists;
  • Written numerous papers on hospital antitrust issues including merger efficiencies, geographic markets, and hospital merger policy;
  • Analyzed product market issues and the competitive effects of many affiliations between major health insurers;
  • Analyzed the competitive effects of alleged physician boycotts against major health insurers;
  • Analyzed the potential for exclusive provider contracts and most-favored nations provider contracts with a health insurer to facilitate monopolization by the insurer;
  • Analyzed patient migration patterns to determine whether a Catholic hospital's religious directives caused problems with access to women's reproductive services following a merger; and
  • Analyzed the competitive effects of joint ventures among hospitals to sell a broad geographic network product to statewide and regional insurers.
Name Title Location Phone Email
Dr. Lawrence Wu President San Francisco +1 415 291 1007 lawrence.wu@nera.com
James Mellsop Senior Managing Director
Chair of NERA's Global Antitrust and Competition Practice
Auckland
Wellington
Sydney
+64 9 928 3290
+64 4 819 2550
+61 2 8864 6536
james.mellsop@nera.com
Dr. Christine Siegwarth Meyer Senior Managing Director White Plains, NY +1 914 448 4119 christine.meyer@nera.com
Dr. Subramaniam (Subbu) Ramanarayanan Senior Managing Director New York City
Los Angeles
+1 212 345 0745
+1 213 346 3038
subbu.ramanarayanan@nera.com
Dr. Ramsey Shehadeh Senior Managing Director Washington, DC +1 212 345 6089 ramsey.shehadeh@nera.com
Dr. Elizabeth Newlon Managing Director Los Angeles +1 213 346 3019 elizabeth.newlon@nera.com
Dr. Paul Wong Managing Director San Francisco +1 415 291 1030 paul.wong@nera.com
Kevin Counsell Director Wellington
Sydney
+64 4 819 2551
+61 2 8864 7235
kevin.counsell@nera.com
Dr. Emily Walden Director Washington, DC +1 202 466 9220 emily.walden@nera.com
Brigid Jung Senior Consultant New York City +1 212 345 7039 brigid.jung@nera.com
Dr. Thomas McCarthy Affiliated Consultant Los Angeles +1 213 346 3000 thomas.mccarthy.affiliate@nera.com
Title Type Author
The Algorithmic Accountability Act: Potential Coverage Gaps in the Healthcare Sector Published Article Dr. Andrew Stivers and Dr. Gabriella Monahova
The Role of Rebates in the Pharmaceutical Industry Published Article Dr. Chris Stomberg
Non-Compete Agreements: Might They Be Procompetitive in Health Care? Published Article Dr. Paul Wong and Dr. Emily Walden
Drug Rebates: A Peek Behind the Curtain at Drug Prices Published Article Dr. Christopher Stomberg
Taking Stock of the Efficiencies Defense: Lessons from Recent Health Care Merger Revi... Published Article Dr. Subramaniam Ramanarayanan
Paper Trail: Review of a Recent Working Paper on the Effect of Copay Coupons on Drug ... Published Article Bryan Ray and Dr. Subbu Ramanarayanan
An Inside Look at Monopsony Issues in the FTC's Express Scripts-Medco Merger Investig... Published Article By John Scalf with Rani Habash of Dechert LLP
Geographic Market Issues in Hospital Mergers Published Article By Dr. Thomas McCarthy with Dr. Scott Thomas
Efficiencies Analysis in Hospital Mergers Published Article By Dr. Thomas McCarthy and Dr. Lawrence Wu with Dr. Scott Thomas
A New and Uncertain Future for Managed Care Mergers: An Antitrust Analysis of the Aet... Published Article By Dr. Lawrence Wu with Robert Bloch and Scott Perlman