STAT+: Hospital mergers that dodge antitrust scrutiny lead to dramatically higher prices, study finds

Hospitals that merge under state regulations that shield them from federal scrutiny tend to eventually break free of those controls and raise prices substantially, new research finds.
A forthcoming study in the Journal of Law and Economics found hospitals hiked prices between 39% and 51% after the repeal or expiration of their state regulated certificates of public advantage, or COPAs. COPAs are laws that allow anticompetitive mergers to proceed under state oversight, thereby avoiding the federal antitrust scrutiny lawsuits they would otherwise have to contend with. Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…