As part of an ongoing campaign to fight anticompetitive practices in health care, federal regulators are asking members of the public to report uncompetitive and monopolistic behavior on a new online portal.
With the addition of HealthyCompetition.gov, the public can now report “potentially unfair and anticompetitive health care practices” to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Antitrust Division, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), according to an FTC press release.
Examples of conduct that can harm competition in health care include:
- Consolidation, Joint Ventures and “Roll-ups” of Health Care Providers or Companies
- Limiting Choices and Fair Wages for Health Care Employees
- Collusion or Price-Fixing Among Competitors
- Preventing Transparency
- Health Care Contract Language and Other Practices that Restrict Competition
- Anticompetitive Uses of Health Care Data
- Unnecessary Health Care Provider Recertification or Accreditation Requirements
Promoting a competitive and fair health care market is important because it lowers costs and increases the quality of care, regulators say.
“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,” said FTC Chair Lina M. Khan. “This joint initiative between 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.”
If a complaint raises “sufficient concern under antitrust laws or is related to HHS authorities,” it will be selected for further examination and possibly lead to the opening of a formal investigation, according to the release.
HealthyCompetition.gov is the latest effort by federal regulators to promote competition in health care markets. In December 2023, the three agencies partnered on a joint Request for Information to seek input on how private equity and other corporation’s control of health care is impacting Americans.