[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 218 (Tuesday, November 12, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 68672-68673]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-28648]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION


Public Hearings: Health Care and Competition Law and Policy

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Notice of public hearings and opportunity for comment.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') 
announces it will hold approximately twenty-five days of hearings, 
beginning in February 2003, on the subject of ``Health Care and 
Competition Law and Policy.'' The Commission held a two-day workshop on 
health care and competition law and policy on September 9-10, 2002. 
That workshop demonstrated the range and complexity of issues arising 
from the intersection of health care and competition law and policy 
(including consumer protection law and policy), and revealed a 
diversity of views on the appropriate role and priorities for the 
Commission and other law enforcement agencies in this important area of 
the economy.
    The Commission has determined that further inquiry will help inform 
the framing and implementation of competition law and policy as applied 
to health care. The hearings will focus in greater depth on some of the 
issues raised during the September 2002 workshop, and will also review 
and analyze the application of competition law and policy to health 
care more broadly. The hearings may consider a range of subjects, 
including, but not limited to, hospital mergers, geographic and product 
markets (including issues unique to rural health care markets), the 
significance of non-profit provider status, the issues raised by 
competition from allied health professions, vertical arrangements, and 
the Noerr-Pennington and state action doctrines. The hearings also will 
explore competitive effects of explicit and implicit contracts for 
quality, complexities of measuring and disseminating information about 
health care quality, the impact of existing and anticipated 
institutional arrangements for the purchase, financing, and delivery of 
health care services on the cost, quality and availability of such 
care, and incentives for innovation in health care markets. Finally, 
the hearings will examine the implications of the Commission's consumer 
protection mandate with regard to the performance of health care 
markets, including, but not limited to, the disclosure of costs, risks, 
and benefits by manufacturers of medical devices and pharmaceuticals 
(both prescription and over-the-counter), and by providers of 
professional services in connection with advertising and other forms of 
information dissemination.
    As was noted in the Federal Register notice for the September 2002 
workshop, the Commission has considerable experience in the application 
of competition law and policy to health care.\1\ The 2003 hearings will 
assist the Commission by providing timely information from varying 
perspectives on how competition law and policy affects health care 
markets and consumer/patient welfare. The goal is to promote dialogue, 
learning, and consensus building among all interested parties 
(including, but not limited to, the business, consumer, government, 
legal, provider, insurer, and health policy/health services/health 
economics communities). In addition to officials from the FTC, 
representatives of the Departments of Justice and Health and Human 
Services, state attorneys general, providers, academics, consumer 
representatives, employers, insurers, managed care organizations, and a 
wide array of other groups will be invited to participate.
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    \1\ Federal Trade Commission, ``Notice of Public Workshop and 
Opportunity For Comment,'' 67 FR 47365 (July 18, 2002), available at 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2002/07/healthcarefrn.htm.
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    The hearings will be held at and administered by the FTC and co-
hosted with the Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice. A 
report will be prepared based on the information obtained at the 
hearings.

DATES: Specific dates for the hearings will be announced shortly, along 
with a preliminary agenda. It is anticipated that a full week of 
hearings will be held during February 2003, with additional dates 
scheduled during March through October 2003, totaling approximately 
twenty-five days of hearings. Any interested person may submit written 
comments responsive to any of the topics addressed during the hearings. 
Comments directed at a particular subject considered during a 
particular session of hearings must be submitted no later than 45 days 
after the date of that specific hearing session. Comments on broader 
subjects within the general scope of the hearings may be submitted at 
any time after the publication of this notice, but no later than 
November 28, 2003.

ADDRESSES: When in session, the majority of the hearings will be held 
in Room 432 at the FTC headquarters, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., 
Washington, DC If it is determined that a hearing needs to take place 
outside of Washington, DC, a notice of the change

[[Page 68673]]

of location will be published. All parties are welcome to attend.
    Written comments should be submitted in both hard copy and 
electronic form. Six hard copies of each submission should be addressed 
to Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, 
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20580. Submissions should 
be captioned ``Comments Regarding Health Care and Competition Law and 
Policy.'' Electronic submissions may be sent by electronic mail to 
[email protected]. Alternatively, electronic submissions may be filed 
on a 3\1/2\ inch computer disk with a label on the disk stating the 
name of the submitter and the name and version of the word processing 
program used to create the document.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David Hyman, Special Counsel, Office 
of General Counsel, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Room 407, Washington, 
DC 20580; telephone 202-326-2622; e-mail: [email protected]. Detailed 
agendas for the hearings will be available on the hearing web page 
(accessible through the FTC home page) and through Angela Wilson, Staff 
Assistant, at 202-326-3190 shortly before each hearing is held.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As the Federal Register notice issued for 
the September 2002 workshop explained, the relationship between health 
care and competition law and policy has tremendous significance for the 
United States economy and consumer/patient welfare. The economic 
significance of health care is enormous and will become even more so in 
the coming years. Consumer/patient welfare is maximized by a health 
care system that efficiently delivers to Americans the services they 
desire.
    The Commission, with its dual competition and consumer protection 
oversight authority, has an important role to play in maintaining an 
efficient health care system that satisfies consumer/patient needs. 
Antitrust analysis traditionally has focused on restrictions to price 
competition. Competition routinely takes place, however, on both price 
and non-price parameters. Some have suggested that antitrust 
enforcement has given insufficient weight to non-price competition. 
Others have questioned whether antitrust enforcers have the right tools 
with which to assess non-price competition. Some have asserted that the 
introduction of more competition into health care markets would improve 
consumer welfare. Others have responded that competition policy must 
co-exist with other complicated laws and policies, some of which are 
regulatory by necessity.
    The breadth, complexity, and multi-variable nature of issues such 
as these has led the Commission to expand upon the September 2002 
workshop, and hold these multi-day, multi-topic hearings.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 02-28648 Filed 11-8-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P