In an informative speech at the recent Accountable Care Organizations Summit, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Director of the Bureau of Competition Deborah Feinstein articulated her current thinking on many important issues for healthcare providers, including: Accountable Care Organizations, merger enforcement, remedies, and certain merger defenses. As other FTC officials have done, Feinstein rejected arguments that the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) goals of containing costs and improving quality are in tension with antitrust enforcement. Instead she enumerated a number of important policy points for the healthcare industry.
